I'm not kidding you - just thinking about this pie makes my mouth water.

It's not "custardy" in the sense of egg custard/pudding texture. It's just creamy and smooth and delicious. Kinda like velvet

I got this recipe from a good friend. Here's how you make it:

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups rhubarb, cleaned and chopped into bite size pieces.
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
2 eggs, beaten

METHOD:

NOTE: If you're using early/young rhubarb which is not as tart, go with a little less sugar. I usually go with a little less sugar, anyway.

Simple, simple, simple - toss everything together and pile into a pie pan lined with one crust. Top with the second crust and bake. If you like, you can cut the second crust into strips and weave across the top of the filling.

The easiest pie crust in the world (and very good) is the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust that you just unroll, place in the pie plate and fill. Or use your favorite pie crust recipe.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 - 50 minutes until bubbly.

This recipe is from an old 1969 Betty Crocker Cookbook that I have. This is a picture of it. It's so collectible that it's hard to find that edition and when you do, it costs the earth!

Good old Betty knew what she was doing, back then...

I use a 10-inch deep-dish glass pie dish for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Pastry for 10-inch Two-crust Pie

1-3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
5 cups cut-up fresh rhubarb (1/2-inch pieces)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare pastry. Stir together sugar, flour and orange peel. Turn half the rhubarb into pastry-lined pan; sprinkle with half the sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining rhubarb and sugar mixture; dot with butter.

Cover with top crust which has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edge with 2 to 3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil lasst 15 minutes of baking.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.

This pie crust recipe comes from Julee Rosso's Great Good Food - Luscious Lower-Fat Cooking cookbook.

As Ms. Rosso says, "To make pie crust delicate and flaky, it has to have fat - therefore, good pie is always an indulgence. But this one has no cholesterol."

Yield: Two 9-inch single-crust pies or one double crust pie.

INGREDIENTS:

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
6 Tablespoons ice water
1 Tablespoon skim milk

METHOD:

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and blend well with a fork. Add the oil and, using a pastry blender or two table knives, cut the oil into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the water and milk over the mixture and blend it with a knife. Using your hands, gather the dough into two balls. Use immediately or wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. When rolling the dough out, roll it between two sheets of waxed paper.

Cal. 148 Carb. 19g Protein 2g Chol. 0 mg Fat 7g/43% (analyzed per slice)

I, personally, would not be without a piecrust shield. An indispensible pie baking tool, in my opinion.

Also, the chain is great for baking single piecrusts before filling with strawberries and glaze or whatever other yummy filling you like.

You can either put it on the crust when you put it in the oven and remove it a few minutes before the pie is finished, OR you can bake the pie and when you notice the crust edges are as brown as you like them, you can put the piecrust shield on while the pie finishes baking.

Mayfair & Jackson 9-inch Pie Dish
$11.99

Mrs. Anderson's 10-inch Pie Crust Shield
from $3.99

RSVP 10 foot Chain Pie Crust Weight
$13.50

I have a collection of The Best of Food and Wine Cookbooks and this recipe is from the 1993 collection.

A crostata is a rustic pastry typically made with a fruit filling. The edges of the pastry are folded over the filling and it's baked on a baking sheet rather than in a pie plate.

If you're having guests, prepare this ahead of time and refrigerate it; then pop it into the oven just before serving your entree. It'll still be warm when it's time to serve dessert.

6 Servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt
1 stick (4 ounces) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 to 3 Tablespoons ice water
2 medium ribs of fresh rhubarb, cut on the diagonal 1/4 inch thick
1/5 pint strawberries, sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

METHOD:

You can prepare the crust using the traditional method or you can use the following food processor method.

In a food processor, combine the flour, 2 tablespoons of the superfine sugar and the salt. Pulse to blend; then add the butter and pulse about 15 times, until the butter is the size of small peas.

With the machine on, add 2 tablespoons of the ice water through ;the feed tube and process for about 10 seconds, until the dough barely begins to forma ball. If the dough is dry and crumbly, add up to 1 tablespoon more ice water and process briefly until incorporated.

At this point, regardless of how you've prepared the dough:

* Transfer the dough to a sheet of aluminum foil and pat to form a 5-inch disk. Wrap the dough completely in the foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

* Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 12-inch round. Carefully transfer it to a heavy flat baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the superfine sugar.

* Cover the dough with an even layer of rhubarb, leaving a 1-1/2 inch border all around. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the superfine sugar. Arrange the strawberry slices over the rhubarb in concentric circles, with the berries pointing toward the center. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

* Fold the edge of the dough inward to form a 2-inch rim, letting the dough drape gently over the fruit. Lightly press the rim of the dough to the baking sheet, taking care not to mash the fruit. Gently pinch together any pleats that formed when the dough was folded over.

* Bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry is thoroughly cooked and golden brown and the fruit has given off some of its juice. Let the crostata cool for about 10 minutes, then dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into wedges and serve warm with whipped cream.

This is a photo of one of my five rhubarb plants. We were lucky enough to inherit these perennials when we bought our home. There are so many other delicious recipes to make with rhubarb I could go on and on.

Visit Rhubarb Muffins, Cakes, Sauces and More for muffins, cakes, a punch and a delicious stuffing recipe that I've compiled into another Squidoo lens.

Visit The Rhubarb Patch for all the information you need about growing your own rhubarb! Rhubarb freezes beautifully so you can harvest to your heart's content and enjoy this tasty treat all year long.

Plenty of pie recipes and much more. These books have all received rave reviews!

Rhubarb Pie
by Janet Thornberg
$12.95

Life's Little Rhubarb Cookbook:
101 Rhubarb Recipes
by Joan Bestwick
from $10.75

Joy of Rhubarg: The Versatile Summer Delight
by Theresa Millang
from $8.25