If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it… exactly 11 times, (since I started writing the recipe post for Coop@home over at www.LivinginLuzern.info) their recipe section is easy to make! These easy rhubarb tarts are no exception. To start, find the list of ingredients here, and the recipe here. Im not even jokin y’all – I made these twice in twenty four hours- they’re that good!
Confession: This southern girl had never cooked with rhubarb. It’s just one of those exotic yankee ingredients that grows up north in cold weather. I can whip up a batch of okra blindfolded, but I had no idea what to do with a raw stalk of rhubarb… until today!
I weighed out my Rhubarb so that I could follow the recipe with exactness, but you don’t have to. You can use 2-3 stalks of rhubarb. Chop it up a little and put it in a small saucepan with the water and syrup. Let it cook till softened. Meanwhile make the tart shells be cutting out circles in the prepared dough and fitting them to your muffin tin, small bite-sized ones are really cute but I prefer the normal sized ones that hold more filling.
Make sure to poke holes in the bottom of the crust so that the pie shells don’t bubble up. You can also purchase pre-baked pastry shells at Coop (if you live in Switzerland) so I am sure you can find this stuff locally anywhere in an English speaking country.
Once the filling is cooked till soft, strain it through a sieve, extracting the syrup and leaving the warm soft rhubarb to fill the pastry cups.
Finally, reduce the left-over syrup by boiling it for some minutes until you have about 2 1/2 tablespoons left. Whip cream and add the syrup for a light tangy pink cream to top the tarts with. Don’t forget to garnish by sprinkling on the chopped pistachios, the color contrast makes them look more appetizing and beautiful.
I was impressed at how little sugar is actually added to these tarts, especially because Rhubarb can be quite sour. I think the creaminess of the whipped cream helps tame the tartness of the filling. And because they were practically “healthy” we all helped our selves to seconds! These little guys are always so helpful like that.