In trying to make more vegetarian meals, I ran across this recipe I hadn’t made in awhile. My friend Susan made this for us one night as a side dish to a roast chicken and a salad. It was really nice. I’ve made it a couple of times since. If you prepare it as a side dish, you likely could feed more people, but I make it as a main course, so it actually fed just four of us the other night. We had it plus a green salad, so one slice of the tart simply wasn’t enough – we all dug into the dish for seconds. I have added bacon to it a couple of times. And sometimes I don’t make the herb-enhanced crust, but use a store-bought pie shell. You can also substitute Feta cheese for the goat, or even Swiss cheese also. Any kind of chard will work – even the rainbow type. The leeks provide some good flavor, and the golden raisins and pine nuts add different texture. All good things. The original recipe is one by David Leite, published in the Los Angeles Times several years ago. The recipe says to serve at room temperature, so you could even take this to a picnic, or make it hours ahead of time. I like those options, although I served it warm. This isn’t a big, huge “wow” dish, but simple, hearty, satisfying.
Swiss Chard, Leek & Goat Cheese Tart
Recipe: From my friend Susan via the L.A. Times (David Leite)
Servings: 6
PASTRY:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary — minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme — minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter — cold
4 tablespoons water — and up to 2 more tablespoons more
FILLING:
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 pound leeks — 1/2″ pieces
1 pound Swiss chard leaves — roughly chopped
4 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
3 tablespoons golden raisins
3 tablespoons pine nuts
6 ounces goat cheese — crumbled
1. PASTRY:In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the flour, rosemary, thyme and salt until blended. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, with pieces no bigger than small peas, about 13 to 15 one-second pulses.
2. Add the mixture to a bowl and drizzle with 4 T. of water. Thoroughly mix with a fork to form a shaggy dough. Squeeze some in your hand. If it doesn’t hold together, add the remaining water one tablespoon at a time. Form into a flat disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
3. Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 13-inch circle. Ease it into a tart pan, fitting it snugly against the sides and bottom, and trim the excess. Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork and cover with parchment paper or foil. Fill tart with pie weights or beans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove weights and parchment or foil. Set on rack to cool.
4. FILLING: Trim the Swiss chard of the stems and center vein, then chop the leaves and set aside. Slice the leek in half and clean well under water, then cut in chunks. Drain on paper towels. In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the leeks, covered, until softened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Uncover, add the chard leaves and allow them to cook down and the excess water to evaporate, about 6-8 minutes.
5. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add the vegetable mixture and toss to coat. Pour the mixture into the pre-baked tart shell, scatter with raisins and pine nuts, and dot with goat cheese on top. Bake until the filling is set and puffy, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a rack until room temperature, and serve.
Per Serving: 691 Calories; 53g Fat (67.4% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 277mg Cholesterol; 983mg Sodium.
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