Bluebarb Pie
Andrea Potischman | Feb 1, 2024
If you are looking for the perfect summer pie, I have you covered, this bluebarb pie is a must. The Fourth of July is the quintessential Yankee holiday and a large part of this patriotic celebration is food. From burgers to pie, we celebrate by eating various national classics.
Pi Day, which is a new(ish) annual celebration of the famous mathematical constant, began being celebrated unofficially in 1988. Larry Shaw a physicist at the San Francisco Exploratorium, came up with the idea and corralled staff there to publicly march around one of its circular spaces followed by a pie-eating celebration after. The House of Representatives officially designated March 14th as National Pi Day. Everyone I know now makes and eats pie on Pi Day, but Pie Day has passed, it is now July, and we need more pie.
I am not a huge pie person, mainly because so many pies are too syrupy and sweet. My kids, however, wanted a patriotic pie recipe in honor of the July 4th holiday, and I wanted something good. So this one is red, white(ish), and blue for my kids, and it’s tasty and not crazy sweet, for me. Rhubarb is delicious and a great way to make a dessert a bit more tart than sweet. Mixed with blueberries (a great antioxidant fruit), and you have what my husband named bluebarb pie.
I prefer to make my pie crust and encourage you to do so as well. I use a simple recipe and you can whip it up in a Cuisinart in no time. Make it ahead, freeze it, and just make sure to give it some rest time before baking it.
If you ask me, the best way to serve this or any homemade pie is with a good quality vanilla ice cream, but my boys insist on fresh whipped cream. Happy July 4th everyone.
Bluebarb Pie
Ingredients:
For the Pie Dough:
- 4 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- Dash of salt
- 1/2-1 cup cold water
For the Pie Filling:
- 2 1/2 cups rhubarb, trimmed and cut into small dice
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
- 3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced
- 1 egg white, whisked, for egg wash
Directions:
- For the Pie Dough: Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor, such as a Cuisinart, fitted with a metal blade attachment. Pulse on/off to incorporate. Add the butter and continue to pulse till the dough resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, slowly add the water in a steady stream. Pulse till the dough has just come together. Be careful not to over mix.
- With your hands form the dough into two round flat disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Allow the dough to warm up slightly before rolling.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out both crusts. Line a deep 9-inch pie pan with the bottom crust and return both crusts to the refrigerator to rest while you make the filling.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the chopped rhubarb, blueberries, sugar and flour. Using a rubber spatula, gently mix to combine.
- Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator. Scoop the fruit filling into the prepared pie crust. The fruit should come close to the rim. Top with cut up butter.
- Place the top crust over the fruit filling. Trim any excess dough if needed from the edges. Gently crimp the edge to seal, using your thumb to make a decorative edge.
- With a paring knife cut 5-6 vents on top to allow the steam to escape. Using a pasty brush, lightly coat the top crust and the edges with the egg wash.
- Place the pie on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake for another 25 minutes. If the crust is starting to darken too much, place a piece of aluminum foil over the pie for the remainder of the cooking process.
- Bake another 5 minutes, or until you see steady bubbling in the filling coming through the vents. Remove pie from oven and let cool completely before serving.
