Saving rhubarb - lemonade & crumble pie

Spring is here! The first stalks of rhubarb are hitting the counters of my local greengrocer! Last year I found this great lemonade recipe with rhubarb. But it asked for tons of sugar and after extracting the juice the rhubarb ended up in the trash. Such a waste! After many tries I perfected a new lemonade recipe, with great tang, more fruit and less sugar. And a great way to use the rhubarb pulp that's leftover afterwards, it's a perfect base for a great pie or crumble.

Last years rhubarb crumble pie

Mai Rhubarb Strawberry Lemonade
for 1 liter bottle of lemonade
3 stalks/250 grams of dark rhubarb
200 grams of strawberries, fresh ones are great, frozen is also possible
Lime
Honey (or sugar, up to you)
Club soda
optional: some extra strawberries for serving

Clean and cut the rhubarb and strawberries. On low-medium heat let them simmer with a splash of water for around 10 minutes. Prepare a bowl with a cheesecloth or some other piece of fabric that will let the juices thru and the pulp inside. Tie the cloth up and hang above the bowl. Give it some hours to let all the juice thru. Or get your hand dirty! With CLEAN hands you can squeeze the juices out. Keep the pulp, you'll need it for the crumble recipe!

Put the juice in a little pot and add a squeeze of lime and a spoon of honey (or sugar) to start. Heat it up until it is mixed in well, no boiling! Try and add more honey to taste. Let it cool down. Add fresh cut strawberries and club soda when serving, to maintain the bubbles.

note: For an extra spark you can add some rum or vodka, or replace the club soda with sparkling wine. 

I don't like to waste my food. So after making my lemonade I always wonder what to do with the rhubarb/strawberry pulp. I made a lot of different pie recipes, with apples, nuts and crumbles. Here is my fave!
note: If you didn't make any rhubarb lemonade, you can just use fresh rhubarb

Mai Rhubard Crumble Pie
for the crust
250 grams of sifted flour
pinch of salt
125 grams of butter, room temp
125 grams of (cane)sugar
1 egg

for the rhubarb compote filling
Use the pulp from the lemonade recipe and add +- 500 grams of rhubarb
Juice of a orange
100 grams of (cane)sugar

for the crumble
70 grams of flour
70 grams of old fashion rolled oats
70 grams of chopped mixed nuts
70 grams of (cane)sugar
70 grams of cold butter
note: Not a nut person, shame on you! But you can easily leave the nuts out. 

Last years old fashioned rhubarb apple pie

Preheat the over to 180 C. Start by making the crust. Mix the flour, salt and butter, pinch the butter between your fingers until you get a crumble mixture. Add the sugar and add and make it in to a consistent dough. Let the crust dough set for 20 minutes in the fridge.

In the meanwhile you can make the rhubarb compote and crumble. Clean and chop the rhubarb and let it simmer with the orange juice and sugar for around 12 minutes. For the crumble, mix the flour and butter, pinch the butter between your fingers for a crumble mixture. Add the nuts, sugar and oats and mix well.

Take the crust dough from the fridge and put it in a greased baking tin. Even it out so it's the same thickness. Using a fork make some wholes in the dough and bake for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, take out the tin and reset your oven to 200 C.

Last weeks Mai Rhubarb Crumble Pie, cooling down outside

Pour over the rhubarb filling and even out. Top with the crumble and put it back in the oven for 20 minutes. The crumble should have a good nice baked color. Let it rest for some time, so the rhubarb juices can set. For some extra detail you can add some powdered sugar, in a design or just randomly.
Best when still a little warm! Enjoy!