Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

Here's a fond if sad farewell to rhubarb and my favorite berries (although they're not berries but technically fruit). The stalks are turning tough; the strawberries, watery. But what a season it's been! With all this rain here in the Northeast, we've been awash in strawberries. Maybe we've lacked heat to sweeten them, but they've arrived in great abundance.

And so a here's to a dinner-party celebration for the season: a thick, jam-like layer of fruit, topped with a maple oat crumble. What could be better?

To start, position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425F.

Then make the crust. It's basically the same one for the lemon meringue pie (which you can find here)--except add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 tablespoon extra flour. Roll it out the same way you did for the lemon meringue pie.

You'll notice Bruce was going a little fancy here. He's using a ten-inch tart ring on silicon mat-lined baking sheet, pulling the crust up about 2 inches all around the sides. This way, he can slip the ring off later and cut perfect pieces of tart. Very professional baker of him, Mr. I'm-A-Chef-And-I-Don't-Bake.

Next, the filling. Start with 1 quart hulled and sliced strawberries as well as 3/4 pound sliced rhubarb. If yours is like ours, you may need to strip and peel the stalks a bit, just to get off some of the tougher threads, so prevalent this time of year. Start at one end, get the knife underneath a bit of the outside skin, and zip it down the stalk. No need to go crazy and do it over every inch. Just take off some of it for a more tender filling.

Put the strawberries and rhubarb in a big bowl and mix them together with 1 1/4 cups sugar, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca (my favorite pie thickener), 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Stir well--then dump this mixture into the pie shell. (Or in Bruce's case, into the crust-lined tart ring.) The tapioca will give it added richness, a sort of gelled concoction that's far superior to mere flour or cornstarch.

And now at last the topping. Simply stir this together in a big bowl: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup rolled oats (do not use quick-cooking or steel-cut), 1/3 cup walnut oil, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/4 cup chopped walnut pieces, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Mix it together until it's a crumbly mess, then sprinkle this evenly all over the top of the pie.

Shove the thing in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350F and continue baking until the filling it bubbling and lightly brown, about 45 minutes. Set it on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes to cool and set, then slice at will. Did someone mention whipped cream?