Dutch Peach-Rhubarb Pie

Google can teach you a lot.  In modern times, rhubarb is usually paired with berries.  But I found that combining it with peaches is so common that both Pillsbury and Alton Brown have recipes for it.  The Pillsbury one looked especially good until I found another that used crystallized ginger instead of coconut.  So I'm going a little off-grid and making the topping my own.

This counts as Pantry Challenge.  I ended up using squeezable ginger paste instead of crystallized.  The fillings were from last summer's Clear-Jel obsession.  The crust was part of my big batch, of which I still have two double-crust pies left.  And the rest of the ingredients I always have in sufficient quantities.

For everyone else, I'm going to give you substitutions.  While I used a pint each of peach and rhubarb filling, this will use a standard 21-ounce can of peach pie filling and enough frozen (or fresh) rhubarb to fill the shell.  I'm not changing the time from what I used with all-canned filling because rhubarb cooks very fast.  45 minutes is enough to cook both the filling and the crust, especially when you consider it continues to cook after you pull it from the oven.

*1 9" or 8"-deep pie crust, unbaked
*1 can (21 oz store-bought) peach pie filling
2 C fresh or frozen and thawed rhubarb, in 1/2" pieces
*1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 C flour
1/4 C instant or rolled oats
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
*2 Tb finely chopped pecans (optional)
1/4 C chilled shortening

1.  If not store-bought, roll out pie crust and place in pie pan.  I've been having trouble with this batch shrinking, and rolled it quite a bit larger than the pan.  It shrank in the oven exactly where I wanted it to be, so yay.  Preheat oven to 375º.

2.  In a bowl, stir together pie filling, rhubarb, fresh ginger, cinnamon, and salt.  I'm not adding sugar because I'm assuming there's plenty in the peach filling.  If your brand isn't coating the rhubarb well, stir in 1/4 C of granulated sugar.  Pour filling into crust and shape edge of crust if from scratch.  Place on a baking sheet in case of overflow and bake 20 minutes while you make the crumb topping.

3.  In a fresh bowl, stir together flour, oats, brown sugar, ground ginger, and pecans.  Cut in shortening to make a sticky, crumbly paste.  Refrigerate until the first 20 minutes of baking are done.

4.  Pull the pie out of the oven and sprinkle the par-baked pie with the crumb mixture.  Return it to the oven and bake an additional 25-30 minutes, until the crumb and the crust are golden brown and the filling is bubbly.  Cool before slicing.

Makes one pie, about 8 servings

Difficulty rating  :)