February seasonal recipes: How to cook with rhubarb

We're so ingrianed into only buying produce when it's in season, but this is the exception. Forced rhubarb brings us much needed colour as well as its delicate sourness

(Riverford)

Baked rhubarb and custard

This silky, comforting combination of baked custard and rhubarb should convert even those who are on the fence about rhubarb (or custard). It gives a beautiful visual contrast of pink on yellow, and a lovely contrast of tangy fruit and creamy, comforting custard.

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 1 hr 5 mins

Serves 6

For the baked custard

1 litre whole milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs and 2 egg yolks
150g caster sugar
¼ tsp nutmeg, grated

For the rhubarb

500g rhubarb, cut into 4-5cm lengths
120g caster sugar
100ml water
Zest of 1 and juice of 2 oranges

Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Fold a clean tea towel over a couple of times and put in the base of a roasting pan. Place a 1.5 litre ovenproof dish on top, making sure it sits flat.

To make the custard, gently heat the milk in a saucepan until it’s steaming (don’t let it boil). Put the eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Stir gently together. Try not to form too many air bubbles. Take the milk off the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Gradually pour the milk onto the egg mixture, stirring gently. Strain the mixture through a sieve into the ovenproof dish. Scatter the nutmeg over the top.

Boil a kettle of water. Put the roasting tray with the ovenproof dish in on the middle shelf of your oven. Pour the boiled water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the dish and form a water bath. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C/Gas 3 (don’t worry about the tea towel - it has water covering it, so won’t be a fire hazard!).

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until just set but with a wobble. The custard will carry on cooking when you take it out of the oven, so don’t let it overcook.

Carefully remove the ovenproof dish from the water. Leave to cool slightly while the rhubarb is cooking, or make in advance, leave to cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge for a firmer texture.

For the rhubarb, once the custard has cooked, turn the heat up to 200°C/Gas 6. Put all the ingredients in a baking dish, one that can fit the rhubarb in a single layer if possible. Cover with foil and bake for about 15 minutes, or slightly longer if the rhubarb stalks are very thick. Halfway through, remove and toss to make sure the rhubarb cooks evenly.

Rhubarb, orange, pistachio and cardamom cake

(Riverford)

Flavoured with delicate orange flower water and cardamon, and studded with tangy rhubarb and pistachios, this is a moist and delectable teatime treat or dessert. The cream cheese icing is a lovely touch, but you could also serve this with a drizzle of double cream or a dollop of crème fraîche instead.

Prep:15 mins
Cook: 1 hr 15 mins

Serves 12

150g light brown sugar
250ml sunflower oil, plus a little extra for greasing
3 eggs
1 tbsp orange flower water (optional)
Zest of 1 orange
Seeds from 12 cardamom pods
½ tsp ground ginger
300g self raising flour
350g rhubarb, cut into 1cm pieces
80g pistachios, finely chopped, plus extra for the topping (optional)
250g mascarpone or cream cheese
50g icing sugar, sifted
Zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line with baking parchment. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, oil and eggs. Stir in the orange flower water, zest, cardamom seeds and ginger. Fold in the flour. Stir in the rhubarb and pistachios.

Pour into the tin and even it out. Bake for 1-1¼ hours on the middle shelf, until a skewer comes out clean.

Keep an eye on it as it cooks and cover loosely with foil if it’s turning too brown. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool. To make the icing, beat together the mascarpone, icing sugar, orange zest and lemon juice. Spread over the top and sides of the cake once it has cooled completely. Sprinkle over some chopped pistachios, if using.

(Riverford)

Warm beet and carrot salad with mint, sheep’s cheese and rhubarb

Prep and cook: 45 mins

Serves 4

600g beetroot
600g carrots
oil for roasting, eg, sunflower/light olive
2 large rhubarb sticks
1 orange
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
300g sheep’s cheese
200g watercress
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
olive oil*
15g mint

It’s not uncommon to use Rhubarb in a savoury way; the fact that it needs to be cooked has always left it in a strange limbo between fruit and veg. We are using it here as a sharp foil to the sweet earthiness of the new season carrots and beets.

When boiling beetroots always cook them with their skins on. If you don’t, the colour will leach into the water and leave them tasting and looking a little lacklustre. There is also a simple pleasure to slipping away the warm skins after cooking.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C/180˚C fan assisted/gas mark 6. Give the beets a good wash and scrub to remove any dirt. Do the same with the carrots. Place the beets in the saucepan, cover with cold water and season with salt. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 30 mins, or until soft to the tip of a knife.

Meanwhile, cut the carrots into evenly sized angular pieces, keeping any really small ones whole. Place them on the roasting tray, coat with oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and roast for about 20 mins until just cooked and starting to colour.

While the carrots and the beets cook, cut the rhubarb stalks into half lengthways and then into 1cm slices. Zest and juice the orange. Mix the rhubarb with the orange juice and the sugar in the small roasting tray. Bake the rhubarb in the same oven as the carrots for about 8-10 mins or so, until just cooked but not collapsing. Remove the rhubarb and keep to one side. Tip the liquid from the rhubarb into the mixing bowl. Keep the rhubarb to one side.

Lightly toast the caraway seeds in the small dry frying pan until they smell fragrant. When the beets are ready, remove them from the water and, using rubber gloves, slip them from their skins. Cut into even-sized wedges. Remove the carrots from the oven.

Whisk the rhubarb liquid well with a pinch of salt. Slowly add 4 tbsp of olive oil so that it comes together into an emulsified dressing. Add the orange zest and tweak by adding a dash or two of the vinegar if you feel it needs more sharpness.

Take 6 good-sized mint leaves and finely shred them. Crumble the sheep’s cheese into rough chunks. Mix the beets, carrots and rhubarb together with the watercress. Dress with a few spoons of the dressing and mix well. Divide between 4 plates and scatter over the mint, caraway seeds and sheep’s cheese.

(Riverford)

Spiced pork belly with rhubarb, apple and ginger

The belly's thick layer of fat keeps the pork nice and tender as it cooks. The rhubarb and ginger cut well through the richness of the meat. This goes well with roasted carrots and wilted spinach mixed together with a gently warmed tin of cook white beans (cannellini or haricot are good).

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 1 hr 30 mins

Serves 4

700g pork belly joint
1 tsp Chinese five spice
300g rhubarb, cut into 3cm pieces
1 dessert apple, cored & finely sliced
1 tbsp honey
1 heaped tsp ginger, freshly grated
1 tbsp soy sauce
Zest & juice of 1 orange
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 220°C/Gas 8. Put the pork in a baking dish or tin and rub the Chinese five spice over the skin. Season. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes.

Put the rhubarb in a baking dish with the apple, honey, ginger, soy and orange zest and juice. Mix well, then cover with foil.

After the pork has roasted for 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 150˚C/Gas 2. Cook the pork and rhubarb for an hour.

Check the rhubarb is tender, then serve with the pork.

Cooks notes: Remove your meat from the fridge an hour or so before cooking, so it comes up to room temperature before going in the oven. For the best crackling, pat the skin dry with kitchen paper and make sure it is well scored. If it is not crispy enough when the meat is cooked, cut the skin away from the meat in a single piece, then bake or grill until crunchy (the meat will happily sit warm in the meantime).

Recipes from Riverford.co.uk