Alsatian Rhubarb Tart

March 17, 2021

Photo: Justin Covington

One of my joys of summer is cooking and eating rhubarb. My garden is prolific with the tart-tasting vegetable. I gently pull out the edible leaf stalks, selecting the sweeter red ones and discarding the leaves, to make pies, pavlovas, cakes, compotes, and crumbles using recipes from every country in Europe.

A few years ago when I was visiting Strasbourg, France, doing research for my book Quiches, Kugels and Couscous, My Search for Jewish Cooking in France, it seemed that every Jewish cook I visited served me a rhubarb tart topped with a custard, unlike American rhubarb pies, which almost always marry rhubarb with the sweeter strawberry.

Featured in: A Tart Taste of Summer

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Ingredients

For the Filling

6 cups of 1/2-inch pieces of rhubarb (about 2 pounds), peeled if stringy
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup heavy cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Crust

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, Crisco, or coconut oil, or a combination of shortenings
1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

To make the Filling

Step 1
Put the rhubarb and 3/4 cup of the sugar in a heavy medium saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the rhubarb softens and falls apart. This can be done a day ahead.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and roll out the dough. Carefully fit it into an ungreased 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, or make it freeform on a cookie sheet of approximately the same size. Prick it all over with a fork and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
Step 3
In the meantime, beat the eggs in a small bowl. Whisk in the cream, the vanilla, and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
Step 4
Spread the rhubarb on the bottom of the tart. Pour the custard over the rhubarb, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with strawberries if you like and whipped cream or ice cream.

To make the Crust

Step 1
Cut the butter or shortening into small pieces, and toss into a food processor fitted with a steel blade, along with the flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse until the texture is like very coarse meal. Gradually add 3 tablespoons ice water, pulsing until the dough comes together in a ball. Shape the dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.