July Seasonal Recipe: Stewed Rhubarb and Meringue

The best deals are usually on seasonal food as it's in abundance and as a result, I've picked up some bargains on rhubarb over the past couple of weeks.

Forced rhubarb is in season early in the year and is perfect for mini rhubarb crumbles but the season for the field grown variety is around April to September, so is perfect for more summery deserts like this one.

This week, I've kept it simple, by just stewing the rhubarb and serving with shop-bought meringues, ideal if you have guests and you're in a hurry. For a thrifty, out of season version, used tinned rhubarb.

Rhubarb Meringues
Serves 4

Ingredients
Rhubarb (approx 400g)
50g water
50g orange juice
Sugar, to sweeten to taste (2-4 teaspoons usually does the trick!)
4 x meringue nests

1. Chop the rhubarb into bite-sized pieces and place in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the liquid water and orange juice and a couple of teaspoons of sugar.

2. Bring to the boil, then turn down to simmer gently for 5-10 minutes, or until the rhubarb is tender. Taste to ensure the rhubarb is sufficiently sweet, then serve over the meringue with cream, yoghurt or ice cream.

For more ideas on how to use your seasonal rhubarb, see here for Delia's suggestions (doesn't the rhubarb ice cream look amazing?) or here for Delicious Magazine's ideas (the cheesecake is next on my agenda when I have a new kitchen!)

Happy seasonal cooking!