RHUBARB AND RICOTTA ON TOAST

Boxes of bright-pink forced rhubarb pierce the grey days of winter when they arrive from Holland in December and Yorkshire in January. The stems have the same, enlivening effect when eaten at the start of the day. For this savoury-sweet breakfast dish, which works equally well at brunch, the rhubarb is cooked to part compote, part tender baton and served with fresh, milky ricotta. You can and should cook the rhubarb well in advance of breakfast – it will keep for up to three days if covered and refrigerated. The savoury elements are important – heavy sprinkles of salt and black pepper, fragrant thyme and a good glug of grassy extra-virgin olive oil – otherwise this would just be a dessert served on toast. Moreover, not all ricotta is created equal. Try, for example, K appacasein Dairy’s Jersey cow ricotta to see how fresh cheese relies on the quality of the milk used to make it. MAKES 6–8 SERVINGS

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Step 1

Put the rhubarb pieces in a medium-large saucepan so that, ideally, they sit no more than 2 batons deep. Add the sugar and 3 tablespoons water, tumble the rhubarb around, then place the pan over a low-medium heat until the liquid is somewhere between a simmer and a boil. Reduce the heat to very low and place a lid on top. Cook for 5–10 minutes, checking once or twice to swap batons from the top to the bottom of the pile so they cook evenly, and to ensure the pan is never at much more than a simmer. When half the rhubarb has become quite so?, stringy and juicy, remove the pan from the heat and lid from the pan, and leave to cool, during which time the harder batons will so?en in the residual heat.

Step 2

Toast the bread until golden and fairly crisp. Spread it with plenty of ricotta (the exact quantity depends on the size of toast onto which you are spreading, but it should be a fairly generous wave of dairy). Sprinkle with a couple of pinches of fl aky sea salt, a few grinds of pepper and some thyme leaves. Add a swirl of grassy, peppery extra-virgin olive oil, before fi nishing with a couple of spoonfuls of rhubarb, avoiding adding too much syrup (as you should save this for a cocktail later in the day (see here)).