![Avocado Salsa](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/07/12/dining/12SAUCESREX13-creamy-GK-avocado-salsa/merlin_190354188_e012a227-8aa4-4978-8b31-cd3cf5d0a3a6-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Avocado Salsa
Genevieve Ko
336 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
336
10 minutes
Advertisement
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a roasting pan or large, shallow Dutch oven, combine the rhubarb, sugar, lemon zest and juice, vanilla bean (if using) and 2½ cups water. Using clean hands, gently move the rhubarb around to disperse the ingredients. Roast until the rhubarb softens, the sugar dissolves and the water is pink, about 1 hour.
Let the pan cool slightly before carefully straining the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup or bowl. You should have about 2½ cups rhubarb syrup. Transfer the roasted rhubarb to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week. Pour the syrup back into the pan.
On the stovetop over high heat, bring the syrup to a boil, immediately reduce the heat to medium-high and continue boiling, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the syrup has reduced by a little more than half, 10 to 12 minutes. Watch carefully so that the hot syrup doesn’t boil over the sides of the pan. (You should have about 1 cup sauce.)
Use the sauce immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week. This tastes so good over vanilla ice cream, stirred into a glass of iced water for something reminiscent of pink lemonade or iced coffee for a high note, mixed into a pan sauce for duck breasts, or drizzled over any kind of whipped cream, pavlova or Eton mess-style dessert. The strained fruit tastes wonderful over yogurt.
You don't really need an oven to make rhubarb sauce/jam. The stovetop works fine, if you slice the rhubarb stalks into 1/4" slices first. (It breaks down pretty fast on medium-high heat: of course, you have to watch and stir occasionally). Similarly, if you're not dealing with really tough and fibrous rhubarb stalks, there's no need to strain, unless you have something against a very modest amount of dietary fiber.
I grow lots of rhubarb and this is making easy difficult. Cut way shorter, cook covered on low, on the stove, add sugar and stir to mix when done, chill. Sauce? I add almost no water, just sugar (it takes a lot) and never anything else. That is the base; the way I love it. Lemon overwhelms, not a good base. If I want a special dessert? Add a bit of other fruit sauce (or lemon) to the rhubarb sauce and serve. Syrup? Add more water to cook, drain after cooking and before stirring, boil it down.
Have any of you tried a couple of Tablespoons in a glass and add Prosecco to it? A pretty summer drink
@Suzanne - agree entirely about omitting water. fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/167758/nutrients states that raw rhubarb contains 93.6% water.
I was just thinking I didn't want to turn my oven on for an hour. Thank you!
I tried both methods, cooking in the oven is definitely better to my taste. More concentrated rhubarb taste for some reason.
I suspect a pinch of cardamom would be awesome in here vs the lemon
My husband grows rhubarb, so every summer I make rhubarb sauce. Wash the stalks thoroughly, cut into1-2 inch pieces, barely cover with water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. The rhubarb breaks down very quickly. Add sugar to taste off heat. Done. It's really wonderful over sliced banana, ice cream or pound cake.
Sugar in blueberry sauce, cranberry sauce and rhubarb sauce--I use the same method. A small amount of water in a stovetop pan, add berries or rhubarb cut into half inch pieces or larger if you like. Cook minutes until the berries just begin to break down or until the rhubarb just softens. It does not take long and if you have the right amount of water the consistency will be good. Carefully add sugar to taste. Don't add too much and the flavor will not need any lemon juice to accent it.
I also add a little ginger. I use rhubarb with many recipes. Rhubarb is a taste amplifier.
I made a double batch of this for Mother's Day, despite the exorbitant cost of $16 for two vanilla beans, because the rhubarb at the grocery store was so irresistibly red. The syrup was delicious over lemon pound cake with whipped cream and berries. The left-over stewed rhubarb is delightful with clotted cream and a dab of lemon curd on toast. I'm going to have to look into sourcing some more reasonably priced vanilla beans. The flavor really was vastly different from vanilla extract!
I cook on stove top on low like others, about four cups of Rhubarb to 1 cup sugar and I add cinnamon to mine as well. I serve it like applesauce as a side to my meals. It is great with pork chops!
Anyone tried lime zest here? Don’t have lemon- I know limes are more bitter so perhaps that’d be too much with the rhubarb..
I assume not covered in the oven, right?
Eager to try this recipe. I’ve added a touch of rosewater to rhubarb sauce in the past, and the pairing is lovely. You can’t quite distinguish it, but adds a nice depth of flavor.
Thanks for a winner! I cheaped out on the vanilla bean this time but won't next. I used the strained fruit in a smoothie. Really good!
I grew up on rhubarb sauce, which as I remember it was just rhubarb and sugar cooked down. My mother married shortly before WWII when first the depression and then the war made sugar dear. Her mother in law said the recipe for rhubarb sauce was to put sugar in until it hurt, and then put in some more. Adding a less tart fruit to the sauce is also a good option. We often used mulberries which are quite bland. Blueberries would be good too.
Stir some into plain yogurt - heaven.
I suspect a pinch of cardamom would be awesome in here vs the lemon
Sugar in blueberry sauce, cranberry sauce and rhubarb sauce--I use the same method. A small amount of water in a stovetop pan, add berries or rhubarb cut into half inch pieces or larger if you like. Cook minutes until the berries just begin to break down or until the rhubarb just softens. It does not take long and if you have the right amount of water the consistency will be good. Carefully add sugar to taste. Don't add too much and the flavor will not need any lemon juice to accent it.
Makes a wonderfully tasty sauce, have used as a mixin for yogurt as well as to make rhubarb flavored water.
What is done with the roasted rhubarb that is put in the fridge? Serve with ice cream? Use in a crumble?
Have any of you tried a couple of Tablespoons in a glass and add Prosecco to it? A pretty summer drink
My husband grows rhubarb, so every summer I make rhubarb sauce. Wash the stalks thoroughly, cut into1-2 inch pieces, barely cover with water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. The rhubarb breaks down very quickly. Add sugar to taste off heat. Done. It's really wonderful over sliced banana, ice cream or pound cake.
Advertisement