rhubarb | food for fun

My husband is the pie maker in the family. He grew up in a house where pies were made often and he loves a good pie. I don’t remember my mom ever making pie (though she made a mean chocolate chip cookie and fabulous birthday cakes), so maybe that’s why I don’t get overly excited about this all-American dessert. (The exception being coconut cream, which rocks.) I have made the occasional pie, but it’s not my first choice when the urge to bake strikes. Too much trouble for not enough reward. (I get that there are those who like nothing better than a good pie. To them I say, you can have my slice as long as I get a double-portion of the ice cream.)

My husband has learned that when he’s feeling pie-ish, he has to make one. His pie urge struck this week. Our spring rhubarb crop is tall, proud, and screaming to be cut down and baked up. Rhubarb pie time, thought hubby. He dutifully dug out his mom’s recipe and thawed a crust we had in the freezer. (Proof that I’m not a complete Pie-Making Abstainer: The crust was leftover from a two-crust recipe I had mixed up months ago.) Because he wanted to make a two-crust fruit pie, and the frozen crust would provide only one pastry round, he decided to make a smaller pie. A single crust could easily make two smaller pastries. Our mini pie dishes were too small and the standard pie dish too large, so he used an 8-inch cast-iron skillet. Perfect! The pie baked up hot and was adorably rustic.

I enjoyed a piece, though for me it was more a vehicle for the à la mode ice-cream topping. A pie purist, my husband didn’t need the ice cream. This mystifies me. Though it means I get his ice cream, so I don’t ask.

Rhubarb Pie

1 unbaked (9-inch) pie crust, divided in half
2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon-sugar

Heat oven to 375°F.

Roll each dough-half into 10-inch round. Fit one round into 8-inch pie dish, shallow casserole, or ovenproof skillet.

In bowl, stir together rhubarb, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Transfer mixture to pie shell. Cover with remaining pastry round; seal edges. Crimp decoratively, if desired. Cut a few slits in top crust to vent. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake pie 50 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. Makes 5 or so slices.