Ode to Strawberries Part 3: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

This last Sunday we picked up our first CSA box of the season and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. We received a nice assortment of fruits and vegetables and even a potted plant. Picking up the box is also kind of exciting, because you don’t really know what you are going to get. It reminded me of the feeling I used to get as a little kid buying one of those “mystery” goody bags at the toy store, and then eagerly ripping open the bag to see just what treasures it held. One of the treasures this week were 2 pints of fresh, red strawberries. But like anything in life, along with the treasures also come the challenges. This weeks challenge was the rhubarb. I have never cooked with rhubarb, and really know very little about it. What I did know was that it needs to be cooked for awhile, and that it supposedly goes well with strawberries. Looking at the rhubarb itself was a bit daunting. Raw rhubarb basically looks like a big fuschia celery stick. I toyed with the idea of making some sort of jam, cake, or crisp but ultimately decided on this crumble. I also toyed with the idea of not using the rhubarb at all, but that would be wasteful and I promised myself that if we purchased the CSA box this summer I would utilize every last piece of produce, so I made the crumble. And I am so glad I did! This crumble was very simple to prepare, smelled great while baking and came out of the oven, gooey, sweet and well, crumbly. This crumble topping is super versatile and I can’t wait to use it again in a month or so when raspberries and blackberries are in season!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

For the Filling:

1 Cup rhubarb, chopped roughly into 1 inch pieces
1 ½ Cup strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/3 Cup sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Topping:

1 1/3 Cup flour
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 Teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In an 8 x 8 pan, (you could use a 9 inch pan, or a pie pan, I actually used a 10 inch oval gratin dish.) mix the ingredients for the filling together. Your hands work best for this! Spread filling evenly over bottom of pan. In medium bowl, mix together ingredients for the crumble topping until small and large lumps form. (I.e; crumbles). Sprinkle topping generously over filling. Bake in oven until topping is golden brown and bubbly, about 45-50 minutes. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!