strawberry rhubarb crisp

Today is my wonderful father's birthday. Last weekend we threw a party to celebrate and one of the desserts was this strawberry rhubarb crisp. I was too busy enjoying the party to remember to take a lovely shot of the crisp fresh from the oven, but luckily I made lots so I was able to take a quick a photo of the remains while we cleaned up. Since both strawberries and rhubarb tend to get very soft when cooked I added some apples to the mix to give the fruit part of the crisp a little more body. It was really delicious. Happy birthday Dad - I love you!

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRISP

for the topping:

1 cup oats

3/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Place the oats, almonds, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and continue pulsing until the mixture is crumbly and has some big lumps. If you want to make this ahead you can; just keep it in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator or freezer.  

for the filling:

juice of 1 lemon

3 golden delicious apples, peeled and cored 

2 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 quart of strawberries, stems removed, cut in half

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup instant tapioca

Place lemon juice in a large bowl. Thinly slice apples into the bowl, tossing to coat with the lemon juice to prevent browning. Add rhubarb and strawberries and stir to combine. Add sugar and tapioca and stir until everything is well coated. 

Transfer to a buttered ovenproof dish and top with crisp topping. Place in a preheated 350° oven and bake 45-60 minutes or until juices are really bubbling and fruit is soft. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream.