Spring, especially early spring, signifies the arrival of one of the earliest fruits to arrive in the garden: rhubarb. And as I have forever been a fan of rhubarb tarts and especially strawberry rhubarb tarts and pies, I heard a rumor while listening to my weekly favorite podcast The Splendid Table of a new combination with rhubarb that I couldn’t wait to try: blueberries and rhubarb. What? It couldn’t be! Another delicious combination that melds the tart stalk with the sweet delicate berry? I was on board to give it a try, and the results did not disappoint.

I scoured the internet for recipes and found they were as varied as people, so I returned to my tried and true recipes for rhubarb tarts and made a few simple changes regarding amounts, but just a few.

Key things to remember for ultimate flavor:

• Fresh is best! Period.
• Do not put the blueberries in the refrigerator after bringing them home from the market. You will be tempted, but do not do it. Flavor will be lost.
• Keep it simple: chill the dough before rolling it out, this recipe is buttery and just enough sweet it will knock your socks off and buy fresh, local fruit in season.
• It’s okay if you combine more than 1 1/2 cup of either fruit, just make sure they are equal to each other. 

Blueberry Rhubarb Galette

yield: 4-6 mini galettes, or one galette

Ingredients:

Filling

• 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (a carton found at the market)
• 1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp orange zest (lemon zest can be substituted)
• 1/4 cup flour

Pastry

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1/8 cup sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2-3 Tablespoons chilled water

Crumble

• 2 Tbs sugar
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup oatmeal
• 3 Tbs unsalted butter – melted

Directions

1. Make the pastry either with a food processor or a pastry cutter or a fork. Add the butter (cubed), flour, sugar and salt, mix until a cornmeal-like texture appears. Add the water gradually (you may need more or less depending upon the humidity of where you live). Watch the dough. It should become just like pea-size pieces gradually, but not sticky. You want to have some attachment, but also be loose. Better to be too loose like than too combined. Roll into a ball, warp in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Combine the filling: rhubarb, blueberries, zest, brown sugar and flour. Gently toss to combine. Set aside.
4. Make the crumble: in a small sauce pan, melt the butter on low heat. While the butter is melting, mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and add the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork to combine. Set aside.
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Cut into four (or six – depending upon the size of your galettes) pieces. Roll out the dough on a floured and sugar surface to prevent from sticking. I roll my dough out on a pastry frame (as seen here in this TSLL recipe) or between two pieces of wax paper.
6. Place dough for each galette one at a time on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the filling into the center of the dough, leaving 1 1/2″ on the edge for folding. Begin to fold the edges up, layering one on top of the other. If you are having a hard time making the dough stick, either remove some fruit or dab a bit of water under each fold. Add a teaspoon of unsalted butter on the top of each fruit pile and then cover with the crumble. If you want a nice, brown crust, brush with egg white. Repeat with each tart. You may need two baking sheets.
7. Place in the oven for fifteen minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.
8. Remove, cool for a 5-10 minutes and then enjoy with or without ice cream!