Dessert Soup with Rhubarb Sorbet
Lactose intolerance is a nuisance when it comes to puddings, but I’ve tried this fruit and vegetable dessert soup with rhubarb sorbet and like it as a delicate alternative to mousse and creams.
During our recent visit to Ristorante il Patio in Pollone near Biella in Piedmont, I had to refrain from the dessert of hazelnut cream and salted crumble due to lactose intolerance. Instead I had a fruit and vegetable dessert soup, which was the only sweet course available without milk. And of course it turned out to be a lot more delicate and interesting than it sounded. I think it is the combination of mildly sweet vegetables with a touch of liquorice and mint that strikes a exquisite balance with the citrus spicy syrup.
Here is my version of a fruit and vegetable dessert soup with rhubarb sorbet. A real nice alternative to other fruit based sweets like winter fruit salad and the Italian fruit salad Macedonia
Ingredients
For the sorbet
500 g rhubarb
200 g sugar
200 ml water
1 egg white
For the syrup
1 l water
100 g sugar
1 vanilla pod
2 star aniseed
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cloves
1 orange zest
1 lemon zest
1 apple peel
Fresh mint and lemon balm
For the soup
8 pea pods
1 carrot
½ cucumber
½ fennel
1 apple
1 pear
8 strawberries
Preparation
Start by making the sorbet:
Wash, trim and cut the rhubarb in smaller pieces.
Boil the rhubarb in water with sugar for 15-20 minutes.
Whisk the egg white until it becomes fluffy.
Drain the cooled rhubarb through a sieve and fold the juice into the egg white.
Place the sorbet in an ice cream maker or directly in the freezer. If placed directly in the freezer, the sorbet should be stirred every hour to prevent the formation of ice crystals.
Make the syrup by bringing water to the boil with herb, spices and the peel of lemon, orange and apple.
Allow the flavours 10 minutes to infuse before they are drained and placed in the fridge.
Trim celery and fennel.
Shell the peas.
Peel carrot, apple, pear and cucumber.
Dice all the fruits and vegetables finely but keep them separate.
Boil the diced carrot for 2 minutes before adding celery, fennel and peas.
After another 2 minutes apple, pear and cucumber can be added.
Drain the boiled fruit and vegetables after another minute.
Place a spoonful of fruit and vegetables in a soup dish.
Pour the syrup over the fruit and vegetables.
Serve the fruit and vegetable dessert soup with rhubarb sorbet and fresh strawberries. Alternatively try the mirabelle sorbet or forest fruit sorbet.
We were invited to Il Patio by Biteg – Borsa internazionale del turismo enogastronomico
Delicious :)
Now that I am back home for a few days, I can try to do this… if not, I will have to find it done some where. It looks delicious.
It is surprising that something so healthy can be so nice in a sweet kind of way.