Rhubarb!  A coworker of mine gave me a generous bunch of it last week along with a few recipes so I am going to share the wealth here with you. 

I must admit that even though I have sampled my share of rhubarb pie and rhubarb cake over the years I have never actually done anything with it.  Shameful!  It is so plentiful this time of year and so delicious, not to mention so easy to work with that there is really no excuse for not baking it into everything you possibly can.  Today I opted to bake a pie with it. 

Every pie starts with a crust.  I chose a simple and classic crust from my mom’s 1973 version of the Betty Crocker cookbook with pages that are stained and yellowed and falling out, but  it still works.  Only 4 ingredients in this crust: flour, canola oil, dash of salt, and water.  So easy!  No need to ever buy one of those pre-baked crusts when it can be done so easily (and cheaply) at home.

Once you get the crust rolled out and in the pie pan put in the refrigerator until you are ready to fill it.

Meanwhile, mix up an egg with sugar and flour for the filling.  That’s it.  Easy again!  Then add some of that beautiful chopped rhubarb to it.

Now you are ready to put this deliciousness into the pie shell.  But you’re not quite done yet… there is more deliciousness to put on top! 

A little brown sugar, flour, and butter, because as I often say: butter makes everything better.

The finished product was a big hit at the Memorial Day cookout I attended this afternoon. 

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Rhubarb Crisp Pie

• 2 cups cleaned rhubarb cut in ½ inch pieces
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 egg
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter

Beat 3/4 cup white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1 egg until creamy.  Stir in rhubarb and pour mixture into pie shell (see recipe below).

Mix ½ cup brown sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons flour, and 2 tablespoons butter with fork.  Pour over top of pie.  Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

One Crust Pie Shell (from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook)

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Measure flour and salt into bowl.  Add oil; mix until particles are size of small peas.  Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, adding until flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl.  (If dough seems dry, 1 to 2 tablespoons oil can be added.  Do not add water.)  Gather dough together and press firmly into ball.

Shape dough into flattened round.  Place flattened round between two 15-inch strips of waxed paper.

Roll pastry 2 inches larger than inverted pie pan.  Peel off top paper.  Place pastry, paper side up, in pan.  Peel off paper.  Ease pastry loosely into pan.