These were superb pies. I kid you not. I have never made a strawberry and rhubarb pie before and I was stunned by the results. Absolutely delicious; redolent with rhubarb tartness and flavor, tempered by the sweet mushy strawberry notes with slight crunch of tiny seeds, and a buttery, flaky crust. The recipe is from a Maida Heatter book but I took some liberties with the proportions and the crust is the one I use in my apple pie recipe, here. This is totally simple to make, and everyone who tasted it was a little “blown away” and not an ounce of this first experiment was left over. There are several requests from friends for me to repeat this, and like really soon. So I hope they have more rhubarb this weekend at the markets…
To make, first make a recipe or two of pie crust and let it rest in the fridge. Pick some individual souffle dishes or glass pie dishes if you want to serve in seingle servings, or use a more traditional large pie plate. I cut roughly 4 cups worth of rhubarb into small pieces. I was worried about the toughness of the rhubarb so I peeled half of the stalks. The peeling wasn’t necessary and I wouldn’t do it again on these thin stalks. I hulled and washed and dried about six cups worth of ripe strawberries and sliced the larger ones in half, leaving most of them whole… Mix together in a bowl with 1 and 1/2 cups of white sugar, two tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice and the zest of two oranges. Add about 4 tablespoons of flour and toss gently. Place in baking vessels (I used 4 inch wide ramekins) and pat down a bit. Cover with pie crust and pork with a fork or cut slits with a knife. Brush with egg/milk mixture and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in 350 degree oven until crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes or so. Don’t worry if the contents overflow like lava…
I cannot describe well enough how good this dessert was. It is meant to be cooled once out of the oven then refrigerated and served cold. But I ate half a pie (individual serving size) when it was still warm and it was superb. It was also very good cold. There is something about the tartness of the rhubarb that comes with a unique flavor that is very alluring. Serve this with vanilla ice cream or a heavy cream and it was great…
16 Responses
wow that looks very delicious! the filling is flowing lusciously like a hot lava. could you tell me more about these rubarb MM?? could this be eaten raw of you really need to cook it? this is the first time ive read and seen one. thanks.
The tarty taste of rhubarb could be overwhelming to a first-time taster. But once you overcome the shock, it’s quite a refreshing sensation. I began to enjoy rhubarb once I experienced making crumble pie from freshly harvested stalks. And I always associate summer with rhubarb pies with or without strawberries.
Marky, Rhubarb is almost always cooked due to its overwhelming tartiness.
MM, your S & R pie looks so sophisticated and so invitingly good to eat.
I’ll try making this recipe using some of my frozen rhubarb and buy hybrid strawberries now in the market. I would add almond flakes on top, 10-15 minutes before the pies are done, just to add crunchy contrast.
Looks absolutely beautiful and delicious with the “red†lava oozing out of the crust making it more inviting! I like your idea of making them in individual serving.
I’ve heard that leaves of rhubarb are inedible and poisonous if eaten in large quantities, is this true?
Mmmmmm.
All I need is creme fraiche on top and a glass of milk. I will be very happy indeed!
Ted, yes, leaves of rhubarb are poisonous…cut all of them off before using the stalks. Maria Clara, yes, the individual servings work well. Marky, I have a post on rhubarb a few days ago in the archives…
Desserts with rhubarb are common here in New Zealand and I’ve been hesitant to try them since I’ve always associated it as a vegetable. Thank you MM for giving me the confidence to try desserts with rhubarb.
i can’t believe it’s that simple, MM. no pre-cooking of the filling required? that’s my kind of pie. boohoo..wish somebody grew rhubarb over here..
Gosh MM! Your pies looked ABSOLUTELY delicious. You could almost taste the tartness and sweetness just by looking at them. It looked so rustic with the juices overflowing and the crust looked so homemade. I found myself salivating.
Every Englishman of my age was brought up on rhubarb, at school and at home. Stewed rhubarb(hot or cold),yugh!, rhubarb pie, rhubarb fool. It grew plentifully in the garden and liked lots of animal fertilier in the spring.
My favourite, which I have not cooked since I last lived in the UK 11 years ago was rhubarb crumble:
Skin the rhubarb and remove leaves. Cut into one inch chunks and simmer gently in water with some sugar until the chunks are tender but still almost whole. Transfer to a bowl with some of the cooking liquid. In a bowl combine some wholewheat flour, a little butter(unsalted of course) and some brown sugar together and add this to the top of the rhubarb to make a one inch deep (like a pie crust). Bake in a medium ovem for about 30 minutes. Serve hot with custard(creme anglaise) or vanilla ice cream. Yummy. Best after a Sunday roast. The crumble mix can also be made using muesli for extra texture.
The leaves are definitley poisonous. My mother used to boil them and then strain the liquid and spray it on the roses to kill the greenfly. It worked too. Try it as an organic insecticide but take care with it.
Now I know it can be found I shall hunt some out and return to the crumble as wll as trying Marketman’s recipe with strawberrys.
Thanks Marketman and keep up the good hunting. I want swedes now please!
Tony what are swedes??? If you really have a hankering for rhubarb, Mrs. MM noticed a fresh shipment of imported rhubarb at Santis Forbes the other day for PHP200 a kilo, a little pricey but not bad actually…
Marketman
A swede is a large root vegetable, ball shaped. They are best turned into a puree. Peel off the skin, cut the swede into chunks, cook in salted water until tender and drain. Then treat as if mashing potatoes, adding butter, whole milk or cream, salt and pepper. Then, either in a blender or with an electric hand whisk, puree the mixture . Put in a serving bowl with plenty of freshly grated nutmeg on top. Serve with dark meat.
Now you know.
Tony…thanks. Never heard of a Swede before, but turns out it is also known as a rutabaga, which I have heard of… a rutabaga is a root vegetable (brassica napus) which is related to but different from a turnip. The difference between swedes/rutabagas and turnips is that the former has ridged scars near their tops… this “root” is actually not a root but the swollen base of the stem, and the scars are leaf scars…all this info from Alan Davidson’s Oxford companion to Food. I have had mashed turnips before but never mashed swedes…will have to try it the next time I am in Sweden, from where they derived their name or Scotland, where they appear to be more popular than the more commonly known turnips… ah, I have learned something again today! Thanks.
Marketman,
Thanks for the info on this root vegetable which is called “kÃ¥lrot” here in Sweden, KÃ¥l (referring to the brassica family) and rot – root. Accdg. to the swedish wikipedia, this root fruit was exported to England and the English probably had a tough time remembering the name, hence they called it “swede” instead. It’s also called rutabaga in the US, the name also of old Swedish origin.
The traditional way of eating swede here is to mix it with potatoes as it has an overwhelming cabbage-like taste if left alone, hence it’s not so popular a winter vegetable as compared to parsnips or root celery.
The innovative cooks in Sweden have resurrected the swede and have used it to flavour bouillon or to roast it together with other root veggies. It’s a good alternative to the milk/cream-based gratins of old, very tasty but not too good for the weight and health-conscious.
Mix a big handful each of 2 cm sliced carrots, parsnips, potatoes, root celery and half a handful of swede in a roasting pan. Add some pressed garlic, sliced red onions and blend with good olive oil. Sea salt and freshly-milled black pepper and a bit of peperoncino to taste. Roast in 220 C until the vegetables are soft, about 30 mins. Good with game and dark meat.
Enjoy!
I had no idea we had rhubarb here (Philippines). I’ve only had it when we are in Scandinavia. Sis-in-law grows it in her garden. I remember my first rhubarb encounter, I had no idea what they were. Or for that matter what to do with them.(Hmmm, do I put them in a vase? Do I chop them up? They kind of look like huge pink leafy celery.) Then she brought me a pie.
Where can i find some rhubarbs in the Phil? i live in pasay city near Mall of Asia and i can’t seem to find any, if u do know where i can get some please help i would really love to try to make some rhubarb and strawberry pies >.