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If you’re lucky to have some late-season rhubarb in your garden or a stash from the spring harvest in the freezer, you’ve come to the right place. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a chilled Scandinavian rhubarb soup served with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.
The recipe comes from my latest cookbook, The Pescatarian Cookbook for Beginners: 75 Recipes to Kick-Start Your Healthy Lifestyle, which was released last month. Although it’s not a Scandinavian cookbook, it does feature a number of recipes that are either traditional or inspired by the cuisine of that part of the world, including this recipe for Scandinavian rhubarb soup.
I first made rhubarb soup many years ago using a recipe from the talented Danish chef and cookbook author Trine Hahnemann. Her recipe featured rhubarb prepared in two ways: both baked and simmered. Although it required an extra step (and an extra pot or dish to wash!), I loved how that process allowed some of the rhubarb to retain its shape rather than almost melting into itself as simmers rhubarb tends to do. I encourage you to try it too!
Even more rhubarb recipes
We’ll get to the recipe in a moment, but first I want to share with you a collection of rhubarb recipes from the Outside Oslo archive:
- Gluten-Free Scandinavian Almond Cake with Rhubarb Compote
- Norwegian Rhubarb Cake (Rabarbrakake) (Note: This is a different recipe than the one for “Classic Rhubarb Cake with Hints of Cardamom and Almond on page 81 of my book Modern Scandinavian Baking)
- Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam with Vanilla Bean
- Norwegian Mackerel with Roasted Rhubarb
- Roasted Oysters with Rhubarb Mignonette
- Smoked Mackerel Salad with Rhubarb, Pickled Beets, and Hard-Boiled Egg
- Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake (Hjónabandssaela)
And now for the recipe for Scandinavian Rhubarb Soup
(The following text and recipe are excerpted from my book The Pescatarian Cookbook for Beginners: 75 Recipes to Kick-Start Your Healthy Lifestyle.)
Rhubarb is truly one of the gifts of spring, with its crisp, tart vegetal qualities that almost melt into a sweet, luscious mass when cooked with a generous amount of sugar.
This recipe calls for cooking the rhubarb in two ways. That’s because roasting the rhubarb helps it retain some of its texture, and simmering it will break it apart more. If you’re short on time, simply simmer the entire quantity of rhubarb.
Chilled Rhubarb Soup with Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds rhubarb trimmed and cut into 1-inch slices
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1/2 cup sugar plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Vanilla ice cream for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place 2 handfuls of rhubarb in a baking dish and roast for about 20 minutes until tender.
- Meanwhile, in a medium pot over medium-high heat, bring the remaining rhubarb, water, and sugar to a boi. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until the rhubarb has almost melted in upon itself into a luscious, pink soup.
- Stir in the vanilla and give it a taste–add a little sugar if it's too tart.
- Add the roasted rhubarb and chill the soup.
- To serve, spoon into bowls and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Excerpted from The Pescatarian Cookbook for Beginners, by Daytona Strong, published by Rockridge Press. Copyright © 2020 by Callisto Media. All rights reserved.
Whether you follow a pescatarian diet or simply want to incorporate more seafood and plant-based meals into your recipe repertoire, check out my new book, The Pescatarian Cookbook for Beginners!
