Rhubarb Shortbread Tart (Bootsie)

a story

Spring is on the way, my favorite time of the year! Our rhubarb is sticking its head above the soil and getting me excited to pull out a few of my favorite recipes. Rhubarb is a part of my DNA.
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I was raised in Harrisonburg, VA on an old homestead 1750 era and my parents grew tons of rhubarb each spring to sell to local grocery stores, restaurants and to feed a family of twelve.  My siblings and I pulled, cut the leaves off, cleaned and put it in bushel baskets! We all loved rhubarb in spite of the work.
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My mother was known to our family and in the community as a wonderful cook. We ate rhubarb sauce on homemade bread and butter, lots of rhubarb pies and crunch.

My favorite is pure rhubarb pie! Yes, I’m a purest, no strawberries allowed in my rhubarb pie!

Potlucks at PMC in the spring were a great place to find rhubarb on the menu and gardeners brought their extra to share and it felt like love!

I’m sharing a recipe that’s nice to make if you have only a small amount of rhubarb in your garden and is a nice dessert for guests.

a recipe
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Ingredients:
Crust and topping
1 cup soft unsalted butter 
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste ( you can use extract )
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
 
Filling
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced rhubarb*
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1 Tab Clearjel thickener ( You can use cornstarch )
 
Instructions 
Preheat oven to 350 deg.
9 inch tart pan
Toss the rhubarb with the rest of filling ingredients in a bowl, mix well, and set aside.
Cream the soft butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. 
Beat in vanilla paste and salt.
With mixer on low, slowly add the flour and mix till there is no dry flour left. Don’t over mix.
Take 2/3 of the dough and pat it into the bottom of tart pan.
Take the time to get the dough evenly distributed. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. 
With the remaining dough use your fingers to make coarse crumbles.
Arrange rhubarb mixture on top of bottom crust. Top evenly with crumbled dough.
Set the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or till top is starting to turn pale golden
I lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top for the second half of baking so it doesn't brown too much.
Let tart cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. 
 
* if you're not a rhubarb purest you can add strawberries or blueberries
 ~Bootsie

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