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Nothing tastes better than freshly harvested local strawberries, which are currently abundant on farmstand counters here in Massachusetts.

If you missed last week's newsletter which covered care and storage of strawberries, you can find it online here.

This week, I'm sharing my strawberry rhubarb pie recipe.  This is a very easy pie to have on hand all year, if you prep the filling ahead while strawberries and rhubarb are abundant.  The recipe I'm including below can be used with either a premade or a homemade crust.

Cestari's Pastry Blender makes pie crust easy - its heavy duty blades combine flour and butter in just about 1 minute, as you can see from this week's video.  The crust recipe is including with the Pastry Blender, which you can get for 20% off with the coupon at the bottom of the newsletter.

Enjoy,

Susan

A few notes on this recipe:

I generally prepare the filling up through placing in the pie dish and then freeze it in a ziploc bag.  I'll prep several of these frozen fillings in June, so we can enjoy strawberry rhubarb pie all year.  You can use either a premade or a homemade pie crust - if you have a Cestari Pastry Blender, you'll have my recipe, but feel free to use your mom's recipe, or a good quality premade crust.

When prepping the berries, save the tops for strawberry water (see last week's newsletter for instructions).  You only need to slice the berries in half for this pie recipe - it is not necessary to thinly slice them - as they will cook down as they bake.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of strawberries, tops removed and cut in half
• 2 cups rhubarb, cut in half inch slices
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup tapioca
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 2 pie crusts - one top, one bottom
• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream
• 1Tablespoon sugar, mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, salt, and tapioca in a bowl and mix well.  If you are preparing the filling ahead to freeze, you can just dump the ingredients right in a freezer bag, seal and place in the freezer until you need it.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Place a bottom crust in a 9 inch pie plate, and pour the filling in on top. 
4. Scatter the butter on top of the filling
5. Top with top crust, and crimp the edges to seal the top crust to the bottom.
6. Brush the cream over the crust, and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix all over.
7. Cut 6-8 vents in the crust so the steam can escape
8. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake an additional 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the rhubarb is soft.  Stick a paring knife through a steam vent to check if the rhubarb is cooked.
9. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Variations:

This is a basic recipe.  You can dress it up if you like by adding 1 tablespoon orange peel or 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon or a few coriander seeds to the filling, or substituting brown sugar for the granulated sugar. 

Save 20% on Cestari's Pastry Blender.  Save 20% with code RHUBARBPIE through June 25 at the Cestari store on Amazon

Mary from Erie suggests , "Combine haved strawberries with ciliegine (small balls of fresh mozzarella), grape tomatoes, diced ripe avocado, and balsamic dressing for a delicious variation on a traditional Caprese salad."

Eddie from  Phoenix shares, "Add pecans, goat cheese, and sliced strawberries to a bowl of baby spinach and with a drizzle of poppyseed dressing for a fresh spinach salad"

George from Hoboken mentions, "My favorite fruit salad combines strawberries, kiwi, and orange slices. Sometimes I will add some sliced bananas right before serving"

Asta from Baltimore advises , "Combine strawberries, argula, feta, red onion, and chopped nights with a Dijon vinaigrette for a tasty summer salad that is savory and sweet.  Add some grilled steak for a complete meal."

Ella from Bend comments, "Add strawberries to your favorite kale salad for a pop of taste and color."

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