I have never made anything with rhubarb before this weekend. I saw this great looking recipe for Indian spiced lentils with rhubarb in an email from Vegetarian Times, so I went on a hunt for some rhubarb on Saturday. Literally five stores later, I finally found it at Kroger. I couldn't believe how hard it was to find, considering it is in season right now. When we were kids in Michigan, it grew wild all over the place and we would yank the tart and juicy stalks out of the yard and chew on them. The lentil dish was really tasty, but I still had a few stalks of rhubarb left. After what I went through to procure them, I did not want them to go to waste. There was gonna be pie, dammit.
I have pie anxiety. Especially when it comes to rolling out the crust. This is a perfect way to have all the deliciousness and praise that comes with a freshly baked pie, and none of the stress. The shape should be imperfect and it should look homey and rustic. And then you give it a slightly snooty sounding name and you have a success on your hands.
I just used half a recipe for the lovely rustic crust. That was about a cup of flour, 3/4 of a stick of very cold butter, zest of half a lemon, pinch of salt and sugar, and just enough ice cold water to bring it together. The filling was 2 big stalks of rhubarb and a whole lotta sugar (maybe 2/3 cup), a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of cornstarch. I baked it at 400 for about 35 minutes.
I recommend this for anybody who's afraid of making pie! It is a very pretty and forgiving dessert. You don't have to shape it perfectly at all--in fact it looks even better if it's irregular.
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