A Shallow Tart of Chard and Cheese
Cheese is the savior of chard, as a crisp crust, a seasoning for soup, a luscious sauce, bringing out its qualities while introducing a note of luxury. Often, the bolder the cheese the more interesting the result, so a well-matured British cheese is a wise choice for something like a shallow chard tart. As a sort of double whammy, I add cheese to the pastry as well as the filling.
Recipe information
Yield
enough for 6 or more
Ingredients
For the Pastry
For the Filling
Preparation
Step 1
Put the flour into a bowl and add the butter. Rub it into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs (you can also do this in a food processor). Grate the cheese and stir it in along with the thyme, a pinch of black pepper, and the beaten egg. Bring together to form a soft ball, adding a little milk if necessary.
Step 2
Lightly flour a work surface. Roll the pastry out and use it to line a 12 x 9-inch (30 x 23cm) nonstick baking sheet (if your baking sheet isn’t nonstick, brush it with a little butter). Press the pastry carefully into the corners and trim the edges, then chill for a good thirty minutes. Don’t be tempted to skip the chilling period, otherwise your pastry will shrink in the oven.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). To make the filling, blanch the chard in a little boiling water until soft and tender. Drain and squeeze as much of the water out with your hands as you can, then coarsely chop the chard. Finely slice the green onions and add to the chard with a seasoning of salt and pepper.
Step 4
Lay a piece of aluminum foil or wax paper in the pastry shell and weigh it down with dried beans (I sometimes find a piece of aluminum foil is heavy enough to do the job without the beans, though not so greaseproof ). Bake for fifteen minutes or so, until the pastry is firm, then remove the paper and return the pastry to the oven for five minutes, until dry to the touch.
Step 5
Put the chard into the pastry shell. Beat the eggs and cream until well mixed and season lightly. Scatter the grated cheeses over the chard and pour over the egg and cream mixture. Bake for twenty to twenty-five minutes, until the pastry is crisp and the filling has set.
