Antony Worrall Thompson: Sweet and savoury rhubarb dishes
FROM meat and cheese to indulgent puddings, seasonal rhubarb lifts a host of sweet and savoury dishes...
Rhubarb is deliciously versatile. Its tart delicate flavour blends just as beautifully with pan- fried mackerel or herring fillets as it does with ricotta and vanilla.
I’ve been championing rhubarb for decades but it’s very much back in vogue at the moment.
So give it a go while it’s in season. If you’re not a rhubarb fanatic already, these irresistible sweet and savoury recipes are sure to convert you.
Rhubarb and ricotta meringue
Serves 2-4
200g (7oz) stewed rhubarb
225ml (8fl oz) cream, whipped
175g (6oz) ricotta
55g (2oz) icing sugar, sifted
4 egg whites, whisked until peaked
225g (8oz) caster sugar
Take a large pastry cutter or chef’s ring. Place it on a flat serving plate and spoon the rhubarb inside. Put the cream, ricotta and icing sugar in a medium bowl and mix well. Spoon the cream and ricotta mixture on top of the rhubarb. Prepare the meringue by gently folding the caster sugar into the egg whites. Place the meringue mixture into a piping bag and pipe over the cream and ricotta. Take a kitchen blow-torch and heat the meringue until it turns golden. Alternatively, put the meringue into a hot oven or under a hot grill until it turns golden.
Mini American pies
Serves 10
1 packet of ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, cut into muffin-sized circles
3 cooking apples, peeled cored and sliced
450g (1lb 4oz) rhubarb cut into
1cm pieces
100g (3½oz) caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp
¼ tsp of cinnamon
¼ tsp of nutmeg
1 tbsp of butter
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°C/gas 4. Line the mini muffin tray hollows with half of the rolled out pastry, put in the rhubarb and apples, piling them higher in the centre. Mix and sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg over the fruit. Dot with a little butter. Then cover each round with the upper crust, sprinkle with the sugar and bake for about 40 minutes, until the apples are tender and the crusts are brown.
Rhubarb and ginger chutney
Makes about 3 litres
1kg (2lb 4oz) rhubarb
25g (1oz) fresh ginger, well bruised
25g (1oz) garlic, finely chopped
Juice and grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
2 tsps salt
600ml (1 pint) cider vinegar
1kg (2lb 4oz) preserving sugar
500g (1lb 2oz) sultanas
Cut the rhubarb into small pieces.Combine in a saucepan with the ginger, garlic, grated rind and juice of two lemons and salt. Add the vinegar and slowly bring to the boil, then add the sugar and sultanas. Boil very slowly until the mixture is thick, taking care that it doesn’t burn. Allow to cool, then spoon into sterilised jars and seal.
Parma ham with rhubarb, organic beetroot and citrus dressing
Serves 4-6
2 medium organic raw red beets, cleaned
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 sticks of rhubarb, sliced on the diagonal into 2-in chunks
1 pink grapefruit
1 blood orange
For the dressing:
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 tbsps of aged red wine vinegar
Juice from the remains of the segmented grapefruit
Juice from the remains of the segmented blood orange
50ml (2fl oz) extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tbsp
50ml (2fl oz) walnut oil
Salt and pepper
2 slices of Parma ham per person
1 tbsp chopped chervil
Chicory leaves for garnish
Chervil sprigs for garnish
Cut away the stems and leaves from the beets, leaving one inch – don’t trim the root end. Boil the beetroot in salted water until tender between 1-1½ hours depending on their size. Peel and cut each beet into eight wedges. Bring a 150ml (¼ pint) saucepan of water plus one tablespoon of caster sugar to the boil. Add the rhubarb and cook gently for 4-5 minutes. Remove the rhubarb and add to the beetroot. Grate the zest from half the grapefruit and the whole of the orange and set aside. Cut off the skins, leaving no white pith. Then cut out the segments between each membrane. Place the segments into the bowl with the beetroot. Squeeze the juice from the segmented fruit into the beetroot. Season the salad generously and add the shallot, red wine vinegar, the oils, juices and chopped chervil and toss gently. Allow to macerate for 15 minutes. Arrange the salad in the centre of each serving plate, surround with Parma ham and chicory leaves. Garnish with a few chervil sprigs and serve immediately.
Rhubarb sour cream cake
Serves 10
3 tbsps unsalted butter, softened
380g (13½oz) soft brown sugar
2 free-range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g (10½oz) soured cream
300g (10½oz) plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp baking powder
400g (14oz) rhubarb, roughly chopped
100g (3½oz) caster sugar
1 tbsp elderflower cordial, diluted to 100ml (3½fl oz) with water
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Grease and line a 25cm (10-in) spring-form cake tin. Cream the butter and brown ugar together, then add the eggs, vanilla extract and sour cream. Beat well then sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and fold together. Ladle the batter into the cake tin and smooth the top. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes then top the cake with the rhubarb. Cook for a further 1 hour and 10 minutes. If the cake looks like it’s browning too quickly then cover it with foil for the last 30 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack. When cool place the cake on a serving plate. Meanwhile, put the caster sugar and 100ml (3½fl oz) of diluted elderflower cordial in a small saucepan. Heat over a medium heat until the sugar has melted, then increase the heat to high. Boil the sugar until it starts to turn golden brown, occasionally shaking the pan but don’t stir. Swiftly remove from the heat and spoon the elderflower syrup over the rhubarb. Allow to cool before serving.
Pork chops with rhubarb purée
Serves 4
6 sticks of rhubarb, cut in 2.5cm
(1-in) pieces
85g (3oz) unsalted butter
1 tbsp caster sugar
4x200g (7oz) pork chops, rind removed
Salt and ground black pepper
Put the rhubarb in a saucepan, and cover with water, bring slowly to the boil, and then drain immediately. Return the rhubarb to the saucepan with half the butter and sugar and cook gently for 10 minutes until it has broken down to a purée. Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter in a frying pan until foaming, season the chops with salt and pepper, then cook them in the butter for 4 minutes each side. Keep the chops warm, then tip the rhubarb into the chop pan to emulsify with the caramelised juices, scrape the bottom and mix to combine. Serve immediately with the chops, some new potatoes and a green vegetable.
How to make the perfect Rhubarb vodka
Makes 1 litre-1½ litre
1 litre (1¾ pints) vodka
2 rhubarb sticks
½ lemon, zest only
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsps sugar
Crush the rhubarb with a mortar and pestle or in a food processor and put in a kilner jar with the sugar and leave to macerate for two days. Add the cloves, cinnamon and zest and cover with vodka. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for three weeks, but shake daily. Filter through muslin, re-bottle and leave for three months before drinking.
Handy hints
As a general rule, stick to eating the stalks of rhubarb – the leaves are often inedible and sometimes poisonous.
For the rhubarb and ricotta meringue, it’s essential that the egg yolks are separated properly from the whites. Any fat in the meringue mixture will ruin its texture.
For the best results, ensure your eggs are room temperature when you whisk them.
I always choose Bramley apples for cooking: they taste excellent and retain their shape.
Cinnamon sticks are great for making flavoured sugars. Just pop a couple deep into a pound of caster sugar in an airtight container and sprinkle on the dessert of your choice.
Use bright stalks for the rhubarb sour cream cake. Always use sour cream at room temperature when adding it to baking mixtures or hot liquids as a fluctuation in temperature can spoil the outcome.
When decanting home-made chutneys and jams, always give the tops of your jars a wipe with Milton sterilising fluid before sealing them.
The rhubarb vodka works equally well with gin.
Pork and rhubarb might sound like an odd combination – but no less so than apple. The acidity of both fruits cuts through the richness of the pork beautifully so give it a go, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
For the best possible flavour, try and buy a rare breed variety of pork chop such as Gloucester Old Spot, Saddleback or delicious Middle White pork.
For more recipe inspiration, see www.awtonline.co.uk.