Drop - Dead Simple Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

While I usually pride myself on being a "preserving queen", and I'm obviously a huge fan of baking, whenever I get homemade gifts from the families I teach it's always special - not to mention delicious! This past June I was the lucky recipient of a big jar of strawberry preserves, which were just lightly sweetened and full of true berry flavour. Since I'm not huge on eating bread myself (gluten issues and lack of decent GF bread around here just make things a pain), I was stirring the occasional spoonful into oats but knew I wouldn't make it through the jar before it turned. Then, while I was making my Peppery Strawbarb Blossom Jam, it hit me - use it along with some of the rhubarb glut in the garden to make pie!

The resulting pastry's filling was perfect in flavour and consistency, invoking the feeling of being out in the strawberry fields outside the city. The mixture was viscous enough so that I didn't have to mess around with cooking a pie filling, and avoiding the chore of hulling and chopping a gazillion tiny Ontario strawberries was taken off my hands, making the pie as fast and easy to make as whipping up a relatively basic pie crust and popping everything in the oven. For an extra boost of flavour, texture and nutrition, I opted for a partial spelt flour dough adapted from DIY Vegan , which stayed incredibly tender and flaky while weaving easily into a lattice topping. 

I normally would have taken photos of a slice, but it's long gone... but I'm sure that the next time I have the opportunity to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie, I will take the opportunity to source out some chunky, all fruit preserves to "sweeten" the deal!

Drop - Dead Simple Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Makes 1 pie, 12 servings 

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups spelt flour
2 tsp raw sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp butter flavouring (optional)
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp vinegar

Filling:
2 cups chunky, lower sugar strawberry preserves (like Trader Joe's Organic Strawberry Preserves), or homemade
2 cups diced rhubarb
1 tbsp tapioca starch
optional: 2 tbsp sugar (if you want a sweeter pie)

1. Heat the oven to 400F and place a 10" pie pan on a baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, nutmeg and salt.
3. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
4. Whisk together the vanilla, butter flavouring, water and vinegar and slowly add to the flour mixture, tossing with a fork to blend. Add only enough water so that the dough comes together.
5. Form into two balls and wrap one in plastic. Place in the fridge while preparing the bottom crust and filling.
6. Between sheets of waxed paper, roll out the remaining dough half and fit into a 10" pie plate, leaving the overhang. Place in the freezer.
7. In a large bowl, mix together the preserves, rhubarb and tapioca starch until well combined. Set aside.
8. Remove the dough ball from the freezer and roll out into a rectangle between sheets of waxed paper.
9. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut into strips. Cover lightly.
10. Remove the bottom crust from the freezer and spread the filling inside.
11. Using the dough strips, weave a lattice pattern overtop of the filling, pressing the ends to seal.
12. Crimping the edges of the pie if desired.
13. Place the pie (on the baking sheet) into the oven on the bottom rack and bake for 10 minutes.
14. Turn down the oven to 350F and bake 35 minutes longer.
15. Cool completely before slicing.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 356.7
Total Fat: 16.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 2.1 mg
Total Carbs: 46.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.1 g
Protein: 4.4 g