Rhubarb with Greek yogurt and short biscuits recipe

By Tom Norrington-Davies

Serves 4
Ready in 30 minutes, plus chilling
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Think rhubarb's boring? Try this recipe of rhubarb with Greek yogurt and short biscuits to bring some zing to the old favourite.

Ingredients

Juice of 2 oranges (you can also grate the zest of one and put it aside for the biscuits if you like)
2 tbsp caster sugar
3 slices fresh ginger
Approx 1kg forced rhubarb, cut into strips
1 tub Greek yogurt
For the biscuits
250g butter, chilled
400g plain flour
125g caster sugar

Method

1. Squeeze the orange juice into a large pan and add the sugar, ginger and rhubarb. Toss everything together and gently bring to a simmer, at which point cover it and remove from the heat. You can serve it warm after about 10 minutes, or leave it to cool.
2. The biscuit recipe will make about two dozen biscuits. The mixture freezes well, so you could double the quantities and keep half for another time. A food processor is great for these since you literally pulse all the ingredients together until the butter has disappeared into the flour, leaving you with a rough powder. Otherwise, rub the butter into the remaining ingredients as if you were making a crumble topping. Then, in a large mixing bowl, knead the mixture together into a rough ball. It will come together no matter how unlikely it seems at first. Have faith! Place the ball on a length of clingfilm and wrap it up, then roll it into a cigar shape (approx 5cm in diameter but don’t get out a ruler!). Now chill in the fridge for at least half an hour. It must rest and be cold before you slice it.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Unwrap the biscuit mixture. Cut into discs about 0.5cm thick, then lay them on a baking tray about 2cm apart. For beautifully pale-yellow biscuits you need to cook them for about 15-20 minutes, or until they have spread a little and look ever so slightly ‘fractured’ on the surface. They are ready to remove and eat only when completely cool. Keep them in an airtight tin or box, in the unlikely event that they are not all guzzled at once

Chef's tip

I now think of rhubarb as an essentially winter vegetable and this is because of the wide availability of the ‘forced’ type. Sometimes, though not often enough, you hear it called Champagne rhubarb. The pale, translucent stems are usually from Yorkshire, where they are grown in dark sheds, hence the fragile colour. The forcing makes the stems tender and sweeter than the outdoor varieties.