Chard Tart with Pine Nuts

I remember you making chard pie when I was younger, Mom, and I got to thinking about it this week when I bought some tender, lovely Swiss chard. I didn't want something too eggy -- not a full-on quiche, but rather a light, creamy pie with lots of chard.

I used this crust recipe, which has become my favorite for both savory and sweet uses. It's pretty rich, but if you're going to go to the bother of making crust, why mess around?

I used the food processor this time, and it worked fine. I rolled out the dough, pressed it into a tart ring, brushed it with plenty of egg white, and put it in the fridge to chill.

For the filling, I sauteed in olive oil:

1 very small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 big bunch Swiss chard (1 lb?), including stems, chopped

I let that cool slightly, then added it to a bowl in which I had beaten together:

3 whole eggs + the leftover white (the other leftover white was used to brush the dough)
3 oz cream cheese (I had no Parmesan, which is what I would have used; this gave it a nice mild smoothness.)
1/2 cup half and half, roughly
salt
pinch of nutmeg
lots of black pepper

I poured the filling into the tart shell -- it was very wet, another reason to make a rich crust -- and sprinkled the top with a handful of pine nuts. I baked it for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

As with most egg dishes, it was much better once it had cooled to room temperature. It was mild and clean-tasting, and the pine nuts seemed impossibly sweet, almost candied, against the dark green chard flavor.

Quiche Rosé

I made a quiche last night with beet greens, artichoke hearts, and goat cheese. It was delicious, but the beets were really dye-filled and stained the whole underlayer of the quiche. Fortunately I had spread the sauteed greens in the shell and poured the quiche mixture over the top; if I'd mixed it all together first the whole thing would have been a lurid pink. As it was, it just bled when I cut into it, like some kind of Catholic miracle -- weeping statues and La Virgen de Guadalupe appearing on toast and the like. Stigmata Pie. I keep having to shoo pilgrims off my porch.

It started with this easy olive oil crust -- no rolling, no fanciness. I like oil crusts, but then again we're not much for fancy pie crusts in this family. Mix in a food processor:
- 1 and 1/3 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt

Add and pulse for just a moment until dough comes together:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup milk

Press into a 9-inch pie tin. I like rustic-looking crusts, so I made mine pretty flared and irregular. Pierce all over with a fork and bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Separate one egg, saving the white for the quiche filling, and smear the yolk all over the inside of the pie shell. Return to the oven for about a minute until set. This keeps the crust from getting soggy.

Saute a small bunch of Swiss chard, beet greens, spinach, or other green. Arrange in bottom of shell. Cut up a drained can of artichoke hearts and arrange them on top.

Whisk together:

- 4 eggs plus the extra white
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- a ton of black pepper

Add:
- 4 ounces of goat cheese, in chunks
- 2 or more tablespoons chopped parsley

Mix. Some of the goat cheese will melt into the egg mixture, and some will remain in small chunks, which is what you want.

Pour over vegetables in shell and bake for about 30 minutes. you may brown the top under the broiler at the end if you wish. Let cool. The longer it sits out of the oven, the better it will taste.

For those of you reading in South Carolina, check out this Columbia food blog. The Free Times recently put up a link to it next to the link that goes here. I have to warn you that it makes liberal use of the word "foodie," a word that makes it sound, in the words of Chris Onstadt, "like food is something we discovered in 1995. As though it were a novelty thing."), but otherwise is really nicely put together, with a big emphasis on locally grown foods. Anything that celebrates the Midlands of South Carolina as a distinct food region is a force for good. We need to work on that more.