Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I like sweet things, but I don't like things too sweet.  Strawberry Rhubarb pie is usually too sweet for me.  The point for me isn't the strawberries; it's the rhubarb.  This recipe features both flavors without overwhelming either.  It's not nearly as sweet as most strawberry pie recipes.  Who needs all that sugar?  It has a lovely tart flavor but doesn't overwhelm the strawberries.  My rhubarb came up early this year and is flourishing.  The stalks aren't incredibly red, though, so the strawberries help out with the color.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe

First you must have on hand a gluten-free pie crust.  If you are making this from scratch it takes about a half-hour so plan ahead.  You can make the pie filling before rolling out the dough while it's refrigerating to save time, or the crust can be made the day before and stored in the fridge if needed.  Once that is finished the making of the pie is very quick and easy.

Heat your oven to 425 F.

Roll out 1/2 of the chilled pie crust recipe on a piece of parchment paper.

Place the pie crust in the pan and peel off the parchment paper.

Carefully press the pie crust into the pan.  Repeat the rolling out of the dough for the top crust, but leave it on the parchment paper for now.  Place the pie pan and the top crust in the refrigerator while you assemble the filling.

For tips on dealing with a crust that's difficult to roll out, see the end of the post.

In a large bowl, place:

2.5 cups chopped rhubarb

1.5 cups sliced strawberry

Mix in a small bowl:

3/4 cups sugar (I used a combination of white and brown)

1/3 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour

1/4 tsp salt

Sprinkle this flour mixture onto the fruit mixture with:

2 T orange juice (optional)

Mix the fruit and the flour mixture together with a wooden spoon until everything seems pretty well-distributed.  Don't worry if it's not perfect.  Take the pie pan out of the fridge and fill it with the fruit mixture.

(I topped the fruit with a few more slices of strawberry at this point because I decided the pie wasn't full enough.  Use your best judgement.)

Place the top pie crust onto the pie parchment-side up and peel away the parchment paper.  Fold the edges of the top crust over the edge of the bottom crust and crimp together.  I didn't do a fantastic job of this, but don't worry about it too much.  Patch any tears with scraps of crust and press everything together gently.  Cut slits for venting.

Brush the crust with an egg wash (Optional):

1 egg whisked with

1 Tbsp water

Bake the pie at 425 for 30-40 minutes or until the juices start coming up 

Gluten-free Pie Crust Tips: 

If the bottom crust isn't rolling out easily, there are a few things you can do to a gluten-free pie crust that  you can't do to a glutinous one.  You really can't over-work the crust - there's no gluten to make it stiff.  Even if you do end up working the butter into the dough, it won't be a disaster.  First, try kneading the dough a few times to soften it.  It may roll out better after that.  Another trick is to fold the dough over onto itself and re-roll if there are too many cracks.  You can do that several times as needed.  It gives you sort of a puff-pastry type texture which is really beautiful.

If the top crust isn't rolling out well, or completely falls apart, an alternative way to make it is to cut out the crust with cookie cutters and place the pieces in layers on top of the pie.  My sister made a great gluten-free apple pie with this method.