Rhubarb Tarts

  • Rhubarb Tarts

    I was given a ginormous bag full of fresh rhubarb the other day (thanks, Charles!) and had to do something with the approximately 8,000 stalks taking up way too much room in our fridge.  (For real- the bag took up so much room that our Brita water thingy had to sit on the kitchen counter.  It’s a good thing that we don’t mind our water tepid.)

    So I had to do something with the overgrown rhubarb garden in the fridge.  I had just made a Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake, which required a mere cup or two of the stalks, so making a second batch wouldn’t put a dent in the rhubarb wrath… plus, I wanted to do something different.  What could I do to get rid of the massive bag of stalks?  I had no direction, no inspiring recipe in mind, but I was on a mission to de-rhubarb-ize the fridge.  Then it came to me: cook it down and figure it out later.  Brilliant.

    Out came the giant soup pot.  The rhubarb was chopped up into 1″ pieces (which took a stupidly long amount of time, because as I said, there were 8,000 stalks or so), then the 72,000 individual rhubarb pieces were thrown into the soup pot.  Sugar happened.  So did vanilla and lemon juice and zest and a bit of salt.  Oh, and some cornstarch to thicken the slurry.  It cooked for a little while, it cooled, and then I still had no idea what to do with it.  Until I tasted it.  And then, well, let’s just say I had an entire lunch consisting of rhubarb goo.  A big bowl of all that later, the vision was clear: I’d spoon the pie filling (which was essentially what I had made) into cute little tart shells, bake them, and call it a day.  (I totally recommend making extra rhubarb goo to dine/snack on separate and apart from the pie recipe… it would be good with ice cream, or clearly just on its own.  Or you could serve it alongside Angel Food Cake.  Wow.)

    PIE CRUST (Adapted from my Cream Cheese Pie Crust recipe):

    1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1/8 teaspoon baking soda

    1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), cold & cubed

    4 ounces cream cheese (half of package), cold & cubed

    2 teaspoons ice water

    1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

    RHUBARB FILLING:

    4 cups fresh rhubarb (approx 1 lb), chopped into 1″ pieces

    1 cup sugar

    2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

    2 tablespoons cornstarch

    1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

    1 teaspoon lemon zest

    1 teaspoon salt

    1. PIE PASTRY:
      1. Mix flour, salt and baking soda in a food processor, then add butter and cream cheese- pulsing to create a mixture with small and medium sized crumbs no larger than peas (you can do this by hand with a pastry cutter, of course).
      2. Combine water and vinegar together, then slowly drizzle into the food processor, pulsing to combine into a coagulated dough ball.  Don’t over process.
      3. Shape dough into a ball, and cover with plastic wrap, flattening into a disc about 6 inches wide.  Chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
      4. Roll dough out into a 15″ circle, and using a well-floured biscuit cutter, cut out six large circles (just large enough to fit into a muffin cup) and six smaller circles (just large enough to cover the top of each tart).  Re-roll the dough if necessary, but handle gently.  Place large circles into greased muffin cups in a muffin baking tin, and refrigerate until chilled.  (Place tart shells onto parchment or wax paper and refrigerate as well.)
    2. FILLING:  In a large soup pot, combine all ingredients and stir over medium-high heat until boiling.  Reduce to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, until rhubarb has softened slightly and filling has thickened.  Allow to cool before filling into chilled tart shells.
    3. Preheat oven to 375º.  Scoop cooled filling into chilled tart shells, place a smaller pastry circle overtop rhubarb filling, and stab little holes for steam to escape.  Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce heat to 350º and bake for additional 15 minutes, or until tarts are golden brown on top and the rhubarb filling bubbles vociferously.

    Tips:

    • Want to use a different pie shell?  Try the Flaky Double Pie Crust, or the Flaky Vodka Pie Crust.
    • Prefer a more tart tart?  Use less sugar if you like things less sweet (?!?)… or use more lemon zest for more pucker power.
    • Want a full pie?  Make double pie pastry shells and line the bottom of a 9″ pie plate with one batch, and another batch to cover the top of the pie (you’ll probably have extra so just freeze and use for later, or roll some out to 1/2″ thick, brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and bake until golden brown and go to town on it).
    • Chill the pastry before baking.  Don’t roll it out and let it get to room temperature and then bake it… put back in the fridge for a while to chill if you need to.  Trust me.  And don’t ask complicated questions like “why”.
    • I didn’t smoosh the top pastry into the bottom pastry shell, but you certainly could if you so desired- press the edges together in a decorative fashion.  Just make sure you stab the top crust really well so the steam can escape (no half-hearted stabs).
    • These DO freeze well!
    • Enjoy.

     

     

     

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    June 11th, 2014 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: ,

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