Continuing our culinary adventures via our CSA box, this time brings us adventures with rhubarb. A generous bunch of fresh rhubarb made an appearance with our most recent box and that means pies. Fortunately, there was enough to make not one, but two pies! The first was my favorite rendition of Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie, but the second has become a new favorite in our home. Introducing Blueberry-Rhubarb Pie:
Now, one thing people sometimes get a bit cranky about is my use of frozen pie crusts. If you want to make a crust from scratch or have particular dietary restrictions that make that necessary, by all means, make your crust from scratch. I find that using frozen crusts is just fine and, frankly, it means we have pie more than once a year! With a busy work and family life, using a frozen crust here and there makes the difference between a fresh fruit pie for dessert and a lovely bowl full of nothing. So yeah, frozen pie crusts are great. From scratch crusts are great. Heck, tweak the recipe to make it a fruit crisp instead and forego a crust altogether. In the end, do what makes you happy and works for you and yours.
Now, you might notice I've called for some orange zest in the filling. You can skip it, but I highly recommend trying it this way at least once. It's really amazing how much flavor a little fresh citrus zest adds to this pie. I used orange zest instead of lemon zest because the rhubarb is quite tart already. If I were making a berry pie without the rhubarb, my choice would almost certainly be lemon zest instead. That said, if you like a lot of tartness or have especially sweet blueberries and/or mild rhubarb, feel free to use lemon zest instead. Either way, you'll enjoy the little bite it adds to every … well … bite! Enjoy!
Blueberry-Rhubarb Pie
- 2 c. chopped fresh rhubarb
- 2 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 1 1/3 c. granulated sugar
- 3-4 T. cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. grated orange peel, optional
- 1 9-inch prepared pie crust
- 1/4 c. butter, softened
- 1/3 c. brown sugar
- 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Place the rhubarb and blueberries in a large bowl. Stir together the granulated sugar, cornstarch, and orange peel. Toss the sugar mixture with the fruit until it is evenly coated. Arrange the coated fruit in the prepared pie crust. It will be mounded.
In the same bowl that you mixed the fruit and sugar mixture, combine the remaining ingredients (butter through flour) with a fork to form coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the fruit in the pie crust.
Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips that might occur during baking and place it in the preheated oven. Bake the pie until the crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble at the edges of the crust, 45-55 minutes. Cool the pie to allow the filling to set before serving. If desired, you can briefly reheat the pie for serving and add a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.
- Yields: 6-8 servings
- Preparation Time: 1 hour