Rhubarb and strawberry compote: pink, tart, in 15 minutes
The first compote of the year, made while the rhubarb is still thin and pink: stalks in pieces cooked briefly with sugar and lemon zest, a handful of strawberries at the end for colour and sweetness. Rhubarb cooks for eight minutes; any longer and it falls apart. Served cold, over ice, on a hot May evening.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Cutting 5 min
- Cooking 10 min
- Cooling 55 min
Step by step
0 / 4 doneCut the rhubarb
Wash the stalks, trim the ends and discard the leaves: rhubarb leaves are poisonous. Don't peel thick stalks, just cut into 2 cm pieces; the skin gives the colour. Halve the strawberries.
Ingredients: 500 g rhubarb · 200 g strawberries · 1500 ml water · 120 g sugar · 1 pcs lemon, zest · 1 tsp vanilla sugar
TipPink young stalks give a pink compote. Green, thick summer ones give a brownish, sharper one; then the strawberries are essential for colour.
2 cm pieces, leaves in the binCook briefly
Bring the water with the sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon zest to the boil. Add the rhubarb and simmer 8 minutes, until the pieces soften but hold their shape. Longer and they dissolve into threads and the compote clouds.
Eight minutes, soft but wholeAdd the strawberries
Add the strawberries, bring back to the boil and switch off after 1 minute. They tint the compote pink and add sweetness. Taste and add sugar if needed: the compote should be clearly tart.
A minute with strawberries, pink colourCool and serve
Cool covered 55 minutes, then chill in the fridge. Serve cold, over ice, strained or with the fruit in the glass. It keeps up to 3 days in the fridge. Eat the fruit from the compote with yogurt or on crepes.
Cold, with ice, fruit for the yogurt
Before you start
With ginger
3 slices of fresh ginger in the pot with the rhubarb: sharper, for grown-ups, great with sparkling water.
With apple instead of strawberries
One apple in quarters cooked from the start, when there are no strawberries yet. Less pink, sweeter.
For winter
A double batch, hot into scalded jars, pasteurised 15 minutes (jars up to 1 litre): rhubarb compote in January tastes like May.
