Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

The first time I ever had pie was when I was 25.  Growing up Serbian, pies were not in our dessert dictionary . We have this silly notion that pies are an American thing and probably too sweet for our liking. It wasn' t until my then boyfriend (now husband) took me to the Pie Bar in Seattle. Fast forward a few years later and going to the Pie Bar after our Friday night dates has become tradition. My husband orders their Boozy Pecan Pie while I always go for the strawberry rhubarb pie. It has the right amount of tang and sweetness. Maybe it's the combo of the two that makes me love it so much. Not too mention the humongous scoop of vanilla ice cream they serve alongside it. (

While we were at the grocery store today I noticed that they have finally brought the rhubarb back out. What better way to spend being quarantined for the 4th week than by making a juicy rhubarb pie!

For the filling , I used Bon Appetit's recipe(https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/best-strawberry-rhubarb-pie) and opted for a crumb topping from Tutti Dolci(https://tutti-dolci.com/strawberry-rhubarb-crumble-pie/). For the first go around, I used a 9" store bought crust (nothing wrong with learning how to make a pie, one bake at a time :)

Ingredients for filling:

• 1¼ pounds rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces

• 1 pound strawberries, hulled, halved, quartered if large

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• ⅓ cup (packed) light brown sugar

• 5 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

• Pinch of kosher salt

Topping:

• 3/4 cup rolled oats

• 1/3 cup flour

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed

Directions for pie:

1. Set the oven to 425F.

2. Mix the ingredients for the crumble topping and put into the fridge to chill while you work on the filling. **For the butter, I did not have a pastry blender as recommended, so I used a food processor to crumble the butter. It took about 3-4 pulses**

3. Cut the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces; hull the strawberries and cut them into quarter pieces.

4. Mix rhubarb, strawberries, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and salt; toss to coat.

5. Once mixed, place filling into pie crust and bake on 425F for 5 minutes. Afterwards set your oven to 375F.

6. Bake for about 75-90 minutes (Mine was in the oven for about 80 minutes). 

7. Attempt to let it cool for 4 hours  before digging in.

8. If you successfully made it to 4 hours, congratulations! Add a scoop of Vanilla bean ice cream and enjoy!

Directions for topping:

1. Mix dry ingredients.

2. Shred butter (or cube) into the dry ingredients and mix.