Roasted like this, the rhubarb can be served warm, at room temperature or chilled.  It’s good with just a little cream, really nice with sliced strawberries or a few raspberies and wonderful over ice cream.  We had ours over homemade vanilla ice cream.

ROASTED RHUBARB

Makes 4 small servings

1 pound — trimmed weight — rhubarb

1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste)

Grated zest of 1 lemon or 1/2 orange (I used orange)

Honey, optional, for serving

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the rhubarb into pieces about 2 inches long (of course you can cut them shorter, if you’d like) and toss them into a baking dish that will hold them comfortably.  (I used a Pyrex pie plate.)  Sprinkle over the sugar and zest and stir everything around until the rhubarb is covered with sugar.  Set aside for about 5 minutes, or just long enough for a little syrup to start to form.

Cover the baking dish with foil and roast the rhubarb for 15 minutes.  Take a peek and if the sugar isn’t almost completely melted, stir the rhubarb, re-cover the pan with the foil  and roast a few mintues more.  Now remove the foil and let the rhubarb roast for another 5 minutes or so, until the syrup is bubbling.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the rhubarb cool to just warm or to room temperature; chill, if you’d like.  Well packed, the rhubarb can stay in the fridge for 3 days.

If the rhubarb isn’t sweet enough for you — 1/2 cup of sugar won’t give you a very sweet dish — drizzle a little honey over the fruit before serving.

Spoon over ice cream, rice pudding or yogurt.