Rhubarb Compote
This must be that gorgeously pink rhubarb that, on being roasted, turns a vivid, rock-candy puce. My feeling is that this is best, for breakfast, eaten cold, so just stick it in the oven in the evening, remembering to take it out before you go to bed. Leave it on the kitchen counter, decanted into a fresh bowl (it will carry on cooking too much in its original dish) with any excess juice left behind, but not thrown away, to be eaten the next morning. An excellent use for the leftover juice is as follows: boil it down a bit so it’s reduced into a syrup. Cool, then chill, and eat over vanilla ice cream or again, Greek yogurt with, in the latter case, perhaps a sprinkling of shelled sliced pistachios, as ludicrously green as the rhubarb is pink. I wouldn’t be above serving the rhubarb compote with the thick yogurt and sliced pistachios for a dinner-party dessert either.
NotesWhen rhubarb is dessert, I want it warm and with custard, or cold and with cream. For breakfast or quickly grabbed fridge-raiding snacks at night, I must have it chilled and with Greek yogurt.
Cooking Methodbaking
CostInexpensive
Total Timeunder 1 hour
Make Ahead RecipeYes
One Pot MealYes
OccasionCasual Dinner Party, Family Get-together
Recipe Coursedessert
Five Ingredients or LessYes
Mealbreakfast, snack
Moodtired
Taste and Texturetangy
Type of Dishcompote
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs rhubarb to make about 6 cups, sliced
- 1 cup plus two tablespoons superfine sugar
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and place in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the sugar, add the orange zest, mix with your hands, and cover with foil. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, by which time the fruit should be soft but still holding its shape and its glorious pink color.
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Remove the foil and decant into another dish to cool.
2004 Nigella Lawson
