Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Breakfast! I mean, dessert.
I have no shame when it comes to begging, borrowing, and stealing rhubarb. Now, I’ve never actually stolen any, though I’ve been tempted by a thick patch once or twice. I have been known to (gasp!) buy some in a pinch, but rhubarb is one of those things (like zucchini) that in most places it seems like there’s always a kindly person with extra garden bounty who is happy to share. One time I was forlornly talking about how I was looking for some while checking out at the local health food store. The kindly clerk said, “There is a ton at the place I’m renting and I am not going to use it. Here’s my address, come on by!” Perhaps a normal person would have felt awkward and shy about this, but I will overcome a lot of things for free rhubarb, so I showed up at her house the next day and took her up on it, very gratefully.
Waiting for the rhubarb lovers to join…
I have been trying to grow our own for almost ten years now, including two very special plants sent from Wisconsin by my mother-in-law, and this year it’s finally at a size where I can meaningfully harvest it. While I will miss my random encounters with strangers over rhubarb (oh, and definitely don’t be shy if you have extra, I can always put more to use…hint, hint), it feels amazing to be able to go out and cut off several stalks and make one of our favorite desserts. This is also the time of the year when strawberries start going on sale but invariably some baskets are better than others; the tasteless ones or the ones on manager’s special, super sale, or the ones in the back of your fridge, a day away from being composted, are absolutely perfect for this dessert. Free strawberries are a bit harder to come by (whoever heard of someone having too many strawberries?), but of course, if you’re even more lucky and have friends with strawberries, or can go pick at a farm near you while the rhubarb is still in season, then this dessert will be even more out-of-this-world.
The elusive rhubarb patch, in the flesh.
I’m a strawberry rhubarb purist; I don’t like vanilla, cinnamon, orange, or lemon trying to interfere with the perfect marriage of strawberries and rhubarb in my crisps, but you can find plenty of recipes out there that add other stuff in if you are into that kind of thing. My favorite recipe is this one: simply fruit plus sugar with a flour, oat and butter topping, baked to perfection. It’s amazing with a scoop of ice cream, or—my personal favorite—for breakfast the next day with some plain yogurt. I hope you have lots of friends and neighbors with extra rhubarb!
Note: This recipe can easily be made gluten-free—see substitutions below.
INGREDIENTS
FRUIT FILLING
—4 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced (from about 2.5-3lbs strawberries)
—5 cups rhubarb, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces, from about 8-10 medium stalks
—1.5 cups sugar
—3.5 T flour (substitute cornstarch for gluten-free)
CRISP TOPPING
—1 cup all-purpose flour (substitute 1:1 gluten-free flour blend for GF)
—1 cup rolled oats (use GF rolled oats for gluten free)
—1 cup brown sugar, packed
—1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into chunks
—pinch salt
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix sliced strawberries and rhubarb in a 9x13 baking dish. Add 1c sugar and 3.5 T flour or cornstarch and mix thoroughly until fruit is coated with flour/sugar mixture.
Combine all of the crisp topping ingredients in a food processor, or a large bowl if you’re making the crisp by hand. By hand: using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers, mix all ingredients together in the bowl, cutting or pinching butter into small chunks until the mixture is uniform with pea-sized butter clumps. By food processor: process all ingredients in 8-10, 2 second pulses or until the mixture is uniform with pea-sized butter clumps.
Pour crisp topping ingredients over fruit mixture, pressing down and spreading to the corners until mostly even.
Bake for 45-60 minutes until topping is light brown and the edges of the crisp are bubbling. Let sit for 15-30 minutes (or longer) to let the juices thicken. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or plain!
The end goal—perfection.
