Swiss Chard & Raisin Tarte

Feb 26, 2012 by

 

This is my original take on Tourte aux blettes, a sweetened swiss chard tarte that’s been popular in France since the 14th century. There are may variations on this dish but the constants are chard, eggs, cream, some type of fruit and some type of nut.
Essentially, when I say “original take” or “adapted” recipe, it means that I’ve made something a bunch of times, each time adding to my list of things that could make the dish more awesome, and then eventually editing that list down to a workable recipe. Below is the final product of my learning experience.

 

 

 


 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup water
2 pounds green Swiss chard
1 large egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
a pinch (1/2 teaspoon or less) of finely grated orange peel
1/3 cup pine nuts
½ tsp smoked sea salt
prepared pastry dough for a double-crust pie
2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar


 

Directions

Bring raisins and water to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then remove the pan from the heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour.

 

Meanwhile, thoroughly clean the chard and admire what an amazing vegetable it. Seriously, can you think of any other naturally-occurring plant that  exhibits the entire neon color spectrum (let alone one that’s super delicious)?

 

 

Trim the chard by removing the dull ends and center ribs. I recommend folding each leaf in half so you can easily expose and slice the rib.

 

Toss the pine nuts with the smoked sea salt and toast in a pan over medium heat. Set aside.

 

Drain raisins in a colander, then them pat dry with a paper towel.

 

Preheat oven to 400°F.

 

Blanch Swiss chard in a large pot of salted water, uncovered, about 5 minutes.

 

Drain the chard and flush it with cold water to stop the cooking process. Then, squeeze any excess water from the vegetables and roughly chop.

 

Whisk together the egg, cream, sugar and orange rind in a large bowl. Then, add the raisons, chard and pine nuts.

 

Line the base of the pie pan with one layer of the prepared crust, allowing the dough to expend beyond the edge of the pan.
Bake this bottom layer for 5 minutes to get it slightly crispy.

 

 


Pour the tarte filling into the pan and cover it with the top layer of dough. Using your fingers, crimp the edges together, pulling away and discarding excess dough that hangs way over the edge of the pan. If you want to get fancy, you can also use the tines of a fork to decorate the edges.
Cut 3 steam vents in the top crust with a small knife, then put tarte in pan on a baking sheet.

 

 

Bake until top is golden, about 1 hour. Mine came out a little too golden, as you can see above.
Lesson: I’m not Julia Childs and you don’t need to be either.

 

 

 Transfer the tarte to a cooling rack rack and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

 

 

 

Even though this dish contains a healthy serving of chard, the combined effect of the tarte’s eggs and cream give this an almost quiche-like texture.
I recommend serving it with a simple side salad or portion of fruit. And, of course, wine.

 

Original recipe by Bre Goldsmith

 

 

 


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