I’m really excited that some of my friends are starting to return to the office. I feel the potential for lunches and after-work drinks in the air, and I couldn’t be happier!

My friend Erin is back to work every Friday, so we met up a couple weeks ago for coffee and promptly resumed our annual rhubarb exchange. She has it growing in her yard up in Uxbridge and always harvests some just for me.

I knew what I would make with it right away, after seeing this gorgeous Pistachio Rhubarb Tart on the cover of Food & Drink magazine this Spring. Rhubarb is never photogenic when you bake it in stalks, but the geometric pattern here helps make it a little bit cuter.

This tart is absolutely delicious and couldn’t be easier. Both the crust and pistachio filling are made in the food processor, and I didn’t even bother washing it between components. For the crust, I used my new go-to recipe from Dessert Person, as seen in this Lemon Tart, which is so simple and gets pressed in the pan. The only labour intensive part is shelling the pistachios, and of course arranging the rhubarb in a cute pattern, but I tried not to overthink it.

I loved how this turned out and it was a HUGE hit with the rhubarb fans in my life.

Pistachio Rhubarb Tart

Source: Crust from Dessert Person, Filling from Food & Drink Magazine

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt (or 1/4 tsp regular salt)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold, cubed
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 tsp cold water

Pistachio Frangipane

  • 1 cup unsalted pistachios
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla

+ 2 tbsp berry jam (I used seedless raspberry jam)

+ approx 9oz rhubarb, cut into 4cm pieces

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 and get out a 9″ tart pan with a removeable bottom.
  2. For the crust, pulse the flour, icing sugar and salt in the food processor to blend. Add the butter and pulse until it is totally worked in.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, vanilla and water and pour into the food processor. Pulse until the dough comes together, then dump it out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form it into a square, wrap and chill for at least an hour.
  4. When the dough is chilled, press it into the tart pan (watch Claire’s video to learn a cool way to do this), and freeze it for 5 mins.
  5. Remove from freezer and line the tart with foil, pressing it directly onto the crust, but leaving it sticking up the sides. Bake for 15-20 minutes, then gently remove the foil, and baked for 3-5 more minutes until lightly browned. Patch the crust with dough scraps if needed.
  6. While the crust is baking, make the pistachio frangipane. Place the pistachios and flour in the food processor, and process until the nuts are finely ground. Add the sugar and pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until mixed in, followed by the eggs and vanilla.
  7. Use an offset spatula to spread the jam into a thin layer across the bottom of the tart shell. Add the pistachio frangipane, and spread into an even layer.
  8. Arrange the rhubarb into a cute pattern across the top of the frangipane, packing in the pieces as they’ll shrink during baking. Sprinkle the top with a bit of sugar, then bake for 50-60 minutes until the crust is brown and frangipane has puffed up. Serve plain, or with whipped cream or ice cream.