RHUBARB AND SICHUAN PEPPER CRUMBLE GALETTES
I adore rhubarb. It stands out – elusive, complex and defiant – a vegetable masquerading as a fruit that refuses to be sweet or compliant. I have paired it here with Sichuan peppercorns, which have a mildly citrus flavour and a pleasing tingling effect that is both delicious and surprising.
MAKES 6 GALETTES H
320g sheet of ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
FOR THE RHUBARB
500g rhubarb, sliced into 8cm lengths
200g caster sugar thinly pared strips of rind and juice of 3 oranges
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, roughly cracked
FOR THE CRUMBLE
25g ginger biscuits 40g plain flour
30g butter
25g light brown sugar 30g flaked almonds ½ tsp cracked Sichuan peppercorns
FOR THE RHUBARB
RIPPLE CREAM
H 200ml double cream
H 25g icing sugar
H 200g mascarpone cheese
Preheat the oven to 180C/
160C fan/gas 4.
Arrange the rhubarb snugly in a single layer in a baking dish, scatter over the sugar and orange rind, drizzle with the orange juice and sprinkle over the peppercorns. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 15 minutes until the rhubarb is tender but still
holding its shape. Remove from the oven, cool in the syrup then remove it and set aside. Cook the syrup until it thickens. Set aside to cool.
Increase the oven temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Cut six 10cm circles from the pastry, prick them all over with a fork then brush with the beaten egg. Chill in the fridge.
To make the crumble, whiz the biscuits in a blender to a coarse crumb then add the flour, butter and sugar and blend again till you have coarse crumbs. Fold through the almonds and peppercorns. Scatter it over the pastry rounds and bake for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and crisp, turning the tray halfway. Cool on a wire rack.
To make the rhubarb ripple cream, roughly crush one third of the rhubarb with a fork.
Whisk the double cream and icing sugar in a bowl with a whisk or hand-held electric whisk until it forms peaks, and fold into the mascarpone. Swirl through the crushed rhubarb for a ripple effect.
Top each of the galettes with the rhubarb cream mixture (using a piping bag or a spoon), add slices of cooked rhubarb, drizzle over some rhubarb syrup and serve.