After the harshness of this winter, signs of spring are more welcome than ever. The daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths I had forgotten we planted are thriving in our Cape light. Resilient sorrel, chives, and mint are once again sprouting in my garden. And thanks to growers still at it on the West Coast, I am finally roasting asparagus instead of squash for dinner. Nature provides a bit of hope in the chaos of our human world.
Another harbinger of spring is rhubarb. I associate its tart, pink stalks with New England. Years ago, before there was a Food Network and before producers of food porn and kitchen influencers began to populate our phones, I loved to listen to The Yankee Kitchen, an AM radio call-in show on WNAC in Boston hosted by Gus Saunders.
Saunders was born Augusto Solimene in a small town in Campania, Italy; his family moved to Newton when he was young. He was a talented connoisseur of good food, but he didn’t talk about his culinary laurels on the show. What always came through was his respect for home cooks and their insights.
The show was beyond folksy. Gus would chat and listen intently as cooks from throughout the Northeast told him about their favorite recipes. And in spring, invariably a grandmother from her farm in Vermont or a plucky Down East cook would detail a very sensible recipe for rhubarb in jam, a crisp, or coffee cake, or paired with sweet early-season strawberries in a classic pie.
I have my own sensible version of strawberry-rhubarb pie that’s perfect to celebrate spring, Easter, or just getting through another news cycle: I pair the two in a puff pastry crust — and it’s usually a store-bought one.
Puff pastry is a magical thing. It’s buttery yet crisp, rich but ethereal. To make it, butter is suspended in the dough, rolled and folded into hundreds of layers that give the pastry its French name, mille-feuille, a thousand leaves.
It’s also every cooking student’s nemesis. It takes discipline, attention to the details of temperature and folding technique, and lots of practice to master this laminated dough. As a culinary student in Paris, when I showed my best attempts to our chef, hoping for that rare nod of approval, the best I got was a gallic shrug that said, “Not bad.”
Today, I keep a box of store-bought puff pastry in the freezer. The convenience of a reliable crust without the fuss and folding works for me. The nice thing about puff pastry is it’s not sweet and can be used for savory dishes as well. I prefer Dufour, an all-butter brand, but that’s not required. Some basics to keep in mind when working with these prepared pastry doughs: you have to thaw the sheets in the fridge for at least 4 hours or at room temperature for 30 minutes before you work with them. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface. If it gets sticky or warm, return it to the freezer for about 10 minutes, until it’s firm again. And be sure to bake it fully, to avoid a pasty pastry.
For this tart, I make strawberry rhubarb compote and spread it on the golden-brown baked crust. In a pinch, if rhubarb isn’t available, I make the filling with strawberry-rhubarb jam instead. One more thing: fresh whipped cream makes the finished tart seem fancy without a ton of effort.
STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB TART
Makes 4 to 6 servings
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (8-10 ounces), preferably all-butter, thawed
2 cups strawberries
1 cup sliced rhubarb (or ¾ cup strawberry-rhubarb jam)
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup heavy cream
2 to 3 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
- Make the tart shell with edges to hold the fruit filling. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Roll the pastry sheet into a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Cut two 3/4-inch-wide strips from a long side and two more along the short side of the sheet. With a pastry brush dipped in water, brush a 3/4-inch-wide border around the edges of the crust and lay the strips you’ve cut flat on top of that border, pressing gently to make a second layer of pastry around the edges of the crust.
Next, very lightly score the crust just inside the strips. I use a pizza wheel, but a sharp knife also works; you want to score just halfway through the pastry base — think of creating a picture frame. This is to allow the edges to puff up higher than the rest of the crust. Poke the middle of the pastry all over with a fork. Finally, use the back of a paring knife to score the outer edges of the tart, making small cuts an inch apart. Freeze the crust until firm, at least 20 minutes. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 400° F.
- Meanwhile, make the filling. Trim ends of the rhubarb but don’t peel it, then cut it in thin slices. Trim away the strawberry stems and discard. Trim off the broad tops of the berries and add those trimmings to a small saucepan with the rhubarb, sugar, and a half teaspoon of the vanilla extract. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the fruit is thick and jamlike, 10 or 15 minutes. Cool. Halve or quarter the remainder of the strawberries and set aside.
- Bake the crust for 20 minutes to set the pastry; it will rise and brown but will not be fully cooked. Remove it from the oven and use a small sharp knife to gently re-cut where you scored the pastry. Lower the oven to 300° F, return the shell to the oven, and bake for another 20 minutes until it’s cooked through. Transfer to a rack to cool.
- Whip the cream with the remaining half teaspoon vanilla until it thickens. Sift in the sugar and beat again until the cream holds firm peaks. Refrigerate the cream until serving time.
- To assemble the tart: If the center of the tart shell is super inflated, lightly press the puff pastry down to flatten it within the rimmed crust. Toss the cut berries with a heaping spoonful of the rhubarb mixture to glaze them, then spread the remaining compote in the shell, and top with dollops of the cream — you don’t need to use it all, but you can. Top the cream with the glazed strawberries. Serve immediately with remaining cream or refrigerate and serve within an hour to avoid soggy pastry.
