Rhubarb Custard Pie

(recipe, Ron Silver & Jen Bervin)

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Introduction

This pie's gentle, lofty, custard filling tastes faintly of nutmeg and potently of rhubarb. This treasured recipe comes from Jen's Grandma Adeline, who, as a young girl growing up on a Nebraska farm, was given the nickname "Sour Rhubarb" by her family — in part due to her ornery personality and in part due to her funny habit of snacking on rhubarb stalks straight from the garden. Adeline's pie is now in Bubby's repertoire and it sure moves fast in the spring. Because this pie has a custard base, it is best made as a single-crust pie.

Ingredients

Pastry for a 9-inch single-crust pie, such as Sour Cream Pastry Pie Dough, crimped and chilled in pie tin
3 generous cups (1½ pounds) rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces
1¾ cups sugar
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ tsp. ground nutmeg

Steps

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, add the sugar, flour, eggs, butter, and nutmeg and mix just until combined. Spread the cut rhubarb in the chilled uncooked pastry shell and pour the liquid mixture over it. Give it a little jiggle to settle it evenly.
Bake the pie for 45 minutes, or until the center looks cooked and does not jiggle when the pie is nudged (do not use a two-temperature bake for this because it's a custard pie). Cool the pie almost to room temperature before serving.
This pie is really best served on the day it is baked but will keep for 3 days, loosely covered in the refrigerator.