Strawberry-Vanilla Rhubarb Pie!

Coming from a country where covered fruit pies are scarce (when we say "pie" we mean meat pie), I was naturally trepidatious to make this Strawberry Rhubarb baby. I shouldn't have worried because it turned out perfectly! And it was easy, even for a pie-newb like me!

I used some strawberries that we picked last summer and also added a vanilla bean for good measure. It's worth baking this for the smell alone. Yesssssss.

The Crust/Pastry

• 2.5 cups flour
• 2 cups (250g) salted butter
• 1/4 cup lard (I render my own from pastured, hormone free pork)
• 6T cold water

Rub the fat into the flour using fingers or a pastry blender. Now follow my friend Jennifer's life-changing advice and leave some pinky-fingernail sized chunks in there. Put the water in and mix with your hands until it comes together. I needed to add a little more. I added very conservatively, just dipping my (clean) fingers into water and then kneading it into the pastry. When it's smooth, dived it onto two balls, flatten into disks and bung in the fridge for at least an hour.

The Pie. Yeah.

• 3 cups chopped Rhubarb (2cm chunks)
• 3 cups strawberries. I used some I'd frozen (still frozen) from last summer.
• 1/4 cup Quick Cooking Tapioca (must be quick cooking)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean 

Preheat oven to 425F

Mix all of these ingredients together (scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and mix this "caviar" around well) and let them sit for 15 mins.

Roll out 1 disk of pastry to fit a 9.5" pie dish (mine is pyrex). Line the bottom, tumble in the filling. Then roll the lid out, wet the rim of the bottom with water and press the lid on, using the wet edge to seal it. Trim the excess pastry, make a fincy crimpy edge with your fingers (I winged this) and cut two slits in the top as vent holes.

Put it in the oven for 30 mins, then reduce the temperature to 350F and cook another 30mins or so, until it's golden brown and the juices are a-flowing. By then your stomach juices will also be flowing. Serve it with pouring cream (that is, un-whipped heavy cream).