At long last summer has finally kicked in with lovely warm sunny days. Needless to say the rhubarb patch has gone feral, which must also have something to do with all the compost and sheep pellets I dug in a few months ago. Definitely does help if you feed your plants!

I normally do a Rhubarb & Strawberry galette, but as my strawberries are still a long way off and I'm not paying a small fortune for the imported hot house ones, I've added some ginger for extra zing. Give the recipe a go, the rhubarb/ginger combination is super yum!

RHUBARB & GINGER GALETTE WITH RHUBARB COULIS

Adapted from recipe by Simply Recipes

INGREDIENTS

Rhubarb Coulis
2 cups of rhubarb stalks cut into ½ cm slices
¼ - ½ cup sugar (based on how sweet you like it)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
juice of 1 small orange

Rhubarb Galette
3 cups of rhubarb stalks, cut into ½ cm slices (green leaves discarded)
¾ cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of flour
zest of one small orange
2 tablespoons of candied ginger – finely chopped
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 sheet sweet shortcrust pastry
1 tablespoon of butter - melted

To Serve
whipped cream
icing sugar
edible flowers for garnish – borage, pansy, violets
rhubarb coulis

Serves: 4

METHOD

Rhubarb Coulis
Place all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook for approximately 10 mins until the rhubarb is soft. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Puree in a blender until a smooth & thick consistency. Refrigerate until needed.

Rhubarb Galette
In a bowl combine the rhubarb, sugar, flour, orange zest, vanilla extract, ginger and allow to macerate for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place the mixture in a sieve over a bowl for 10 minutes to drain away the excess fluid.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the pastry to a 22 – 24 cm round of even thickness. Place rolled-out pastry on a sheet of baking paper in the center of a baking tray. Use a slotted spoon to lift up the rhubarb mixture, leaving any excess liquid behind, and place the rhubarb mixture in the center of the pastry round, leaving a 7 cm border on all sides. Fold the edges of the pie crust up and over so that a circle of the filling is visible. Brush the pastry with the melted butter.

Bake in the middle rack of the oven, for 30 - 40 minutes until the crust is slightly brown and the filling cooked. Cool on a rack for at least half an hour.

To Serve
Sieve a little icing sugar over the galette pastry, and dot the centre with rhubarb coulis. Top with a few fresh edible flowers and serve with whipped cream and extra coulis.