Rhubarb Pie from Vicki Delany

PIE! Is there anything better? Particularly when fruits are in season.  Most rhubarb pie recipes come with a combination of rhubarb and strawberry but I love this one for the pure rhubarb flavour.  The fruit is cooked first, which cuts some of the sourness and provides a thicker filling for pie.  If you don’t have a favourite pastry recipe, you can find the one I use here.

Classic Rhubarb Pie Filling

Ingredients:

• 7 cups chopped fresh rhubarb , cut into 1/2-in. pieces, about 750 g
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla

To finish crust:

• 1 egg , beaten
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp sugar

Instructions:

• Combine rhubarb with 1 cup granulated sugar in a large saucepan and set over high. Boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until mixture is very thick and reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 20 to 35 min. (Time will depend on water content of rhubarb.) Stir in vanilla and cool slightly, 5 min.
• Position rack in lower third of oven. Preheat to 375F.
• Beat egg with water in small bowl. 
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 pastry disc into a 13-in. circle. Lift onto a 9-in. pie pan. Press dough over bottom and up sides of pan, leaving 1-in. overhang. Scrape rhubarb mixture into pastry. Brush overhang with egg wash. Roll out second pastry disc into a 12-in. circle, about 1/8 in. and place over filling tucking edges into overhanging bottom crust
• Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.  
• Bake in lower third of oven until golden brown, 50 to 60 min. Transfer pie to a rack to cool completely, 1 hour.

 

Coming July 26: MURDER SPILLS THE TEA, a Tea by the Sea mystery from Vicki Delany and Kensington