Homegrown Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

We got off the island, as we say here in West Seattle, and headed to Kent, WA last Saturday for a early Father’s Day brunch with Elliott’s family. His aunt and uncle have a great piece of property that is surrounded by rolling green hills, picket fences, and some neighboring horses. After a tasty meal and a tour of the garden, we headed back to the city life with two bags of fresh kale, chard, and rhubarb. Since we are currently addicted to strawberries, we thought what better use for the rhubarb than to mix them together and stick it all in a buttery, flakey pie crust?

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. sugar

pinch of salt

5 tbsp. ice water

Filling:

1 1/2 cups of strawberries, quartered

6 stalks rhubarb, 1/2” slices

1 cup organic sugar

3 tbsp. quick set tapioca

Fresh vanilla bean

Orange zest

Method:

For the pie crust, chill the butter and shortening in the freezer for as long as possible, then pulse the flour, butter, shortening, sugar and salt in a food processor until coarsely combined (there should be small round chunks of butter but it should be mostly combined). Add the ice water in stages and pulse until the water is just incorporated. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface, split into two pieces then flatten and fold each piece a couple of times. Form them into discs, wrap in saran wrap and put them in the refrigerator for an hour or so.

For the filling, simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl thoroughly and let it sit for ten minutes or more before baking.

When you're ready to bake the pie, preheat to 400 degrees and roll out each piece to fit your pan. Carefully line the pan with one piece, load the filling into the crust and carefully cover with the second piece. Seal the crust, then make several slits in the center with a knife. Bake for 20 minutes at 400, then reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for another 30-40 minutes until it's thoroughly golden-brown on top.