Friday Pie-Day: Rhubarb & Pineapple Rhubarb Pies

Thanks to the nature of rhubarb, you get 2 pie recipes this month, just as we got to taste 2 different pies! We just happened to buy rhubarb during the one week of the year that it was available fresh in the store (slight exaggeration, but still, it’s pretty hard to come by!)

Frozen rhubarb is definitely usable, but since we had all this fresh rhubarb, it was just the perfect amount to make a traditional rhubarb pie and the pineapple rhubarb pie we were going to make anyway.

Surprisingly, I had never made a regular rhubarb pie before (though I had made a strawberry rhubarb meringue pie). Rhubarb is similar to celery in texture, but the smell is quite distinctive. That’s why I recommend using fresh rhubarb if possible – it smells so great when you’re chopping it.

Traditional rhubarb pie is super easy – after you make the pie crust, just put some sugar and flour in the bottom of the pan…

…add the rhubarb…

…and top it with the rest of the sugar and flour, then the top crust!

I also brushed it with milk, then sprinkled on turbinado sugar to make the top prettier (and yummier).

Pineapple rhubarb pie is pretty simple to make too. Using crushed pineapple makes the filling easy (and sweet, which you definitely need to balance out the tartness of the rhubarb). Both recipes called for plenty of sugar!

Check out some other pineapple pie recipes I've made: pineapple paradise pie and mango-pineapple pie!

Here’s what the pineapple rhubarb pie looked like before I topped it off.

It looked great when I took it out of the oven, but there was more in store for it…

I was really excited to “glaze” the top of the pineapple rhubarb pie with pineapple juice and confectioner’s sugar, but it just looked wet afterward.

So I sent it back to the oven for about 10 minutes (the top hadn’t gotten very brown anyway).

And look at the resulting beauty! Very tasty too! In the league of many other pies I've made.

I had a tough time choosing a favorite between rhubarb and pineapple rhubarb pie – they were both delicious and were effortless to prepare.

Rhubarb Pie (recipe from Wit & Whistle)

4 cups chopped rhubarb (if using frozen, let it thaw first)

1 ⅓ cups white sugar

6 T. all-purpose flour

pastry for double-crust pie

milk and turbinado sugar (optional topping)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and prepare pie crust, lining 9-inch pan with bottom crust.
2. Sift sugar and flour together. Sprinkle ¼ of mixture over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture, and sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Cover with top crust. Brush with milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar if desired.
3. Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then cover edges of pie crust with foil to avoid over-browning. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Glazed Pineapple Rhubarb Pie (recipe from Cooking.com)

1 (20-oz.) can crushed pineapple

2 cups sliced (fresh or frozen) rhubarb

1 cup sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 T. lemon juice

pastry for double-crust pie

¼ cup powdered sugar

1. Drain pineapple, reserving 2 T. of the juice. In a large mixing bowl, combine pineapple, rhubarb, sugar, flour, and lemon juice. (If using frozen rhubarb, let mixture stand for 15-20 min or til rhubarb is partially thawed but still icy.)
2. Prepare and roll out pastry. Line 9-inch pie plate with half the pastry. Transfer filling to pastry-lined pan. Cover with remaining pastry; trim, seal, and crimp edge of pastry.
3. To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of pie with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes (50 minutes for frozen rhubarb). Remove foil and bake for 25-30 minutes more, or until top is golden.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar and enough of the reserved pineapple juice to make a glaze of drizzling consistency. Drizzle glaze over hot pie; cool on a rack.