Ottolenghi’s Chard Tart!
This recipe is very much based on this recipe from the awesome Yotam Ottolenghi, suggested by CSA member, Erin H.
Chard is one of those vegetables that is not widely available, but is delicious and nutritious and is often found in veg boxes across the country!
I mainly eat my chard stir-fried (remove and chop the stalks first, fry them with a little garlic then add the leaves and soya sauce, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds if you’re feeling fancy!) but this tart is definitely going to become a “go-to” recipe for volunteer lunches and my dinner. It is flexible and really very simple to throw together - which surprised me greatly considering it involves making pastry!
Serves 4
A knob of butter
Tablespoon of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped or sliced
2 cloves garlic
A bunch of chard (around 250g)
Parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons sultanas
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1/2 teaspoon sumac plus more for sprinkling
120g flour (I use a mix of wholemeal and plain flour - mainly wholemeal)
120g butter, cold from the fridge
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
100g goats cheese (or a different crumbly cheese of your liking)
1) Heat up the butter and oil in a pan, then add the onion and cook over a low heat for at least 10 minutes. It’s even more delicious if you cook it low and slow for 30 minutes!
2) Finely chop the garlic and add that to the pan, give it a stir and continue to cook.
3) Prep the chard. Wash it and remove the stalks. Finely chop the stalks and add them to the onion mix (and keep cooking) until the stalks are soft.
4) Roughly chop the chard leaves and add to the pan. Turn up the heat and stir until the leaves are all wilted and most of the moisture has evaporated.
5) Add the chopped parsley, sultanas, sunflower seeds and sumac. Stir and then turn off the heat and leave it to cool.
6) Now make the pastry. Put the flour, salt, sugar and thyme leaves into a bowl and whisk to break up any lumps.
7) Cut up the butter into approximately 1cm chunks and add to the flour mix. Squish each of the chunks into the flour between your fingers. It doesn’t need to be mixed in well. Just quickly flatten each chunk of butter for a minute or so.
8) Use up to 4 tablespoons of ice cold water to bring the pastry together into a ball. Add 3 tablespoons first and then see if you need more. Don’t overwork it. Just add a little more water if it’s not clumping together. It’s ok if you can see lumps of butter in it!
9) Roll out the pastry into a rectanlge on a well-floured surface. Fold both sides into the middle and roll out again. Turn 90 degrees and fold the sides into the middle again. Roll out again and then fold in half. Put in a bag or climgfilm and put in the fridge to cool for 15 minutes.
(Note: If I’m bothering to make one batch of pastry, I normally make 2 or 3 and then put the block of pastry into the freezer for later).
10) When you’re ready to make the tart, take the pastry out of the fridge and roll out into an approximate circle. Before you add the topping put on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
11) Put half of the crumbled cheese onto the pastry leaving about 1cm around the edge.
12) Then add the chard mix. Then top with the remaining cheese (again leaving the edge of the pastry clear)
13) Fold over the edge of the pastry onto the chard/cheese mix to form a crust. Brush with egg, sprinkle with sumac and then bake at 180*C for around 25 minutes until cooked through.
14) Serve warm or cold, with Laurelbank salad leaves.
