Tuesday Tart = Swiss Chard & Apple = Torte aux Blettes


Another strange sounding recipe on her blog today ("her", would be me).

I have so much Swiss chard in the garden, and it's almost November! It won't go away, and I don't even like it that much.
It's very pretty, but there is not much I use it for, so I don't think we will be planting it next year in the MCG.


This is a traditional Nicoise dessert in Nice, France, so it just may seem unusual to us.
Swiss chard w/ apples?
YES.

David Lebovitz posted this recipe and if you want to see what it is SUPPOSED to look like in Nice, France, click here, and here.

It traditionally is baked like a pie, with a top crust, dusted with powdered sugar, however, I thought I'd save calories, so baked it as an open tart with a bottom crust only, and though not pretty to look at, it tasted amazing.

My recipe is adapted from the book River Cottage Veg, another beautiful cookbook filled with 200 vegetable recipes as main dishes.

Many of the recipes for Torte aux Blettes call for Parmesan cheese, but I omitted the cheese.

This was simple and gorgeous, and it was best served warm.

Eat it for dessert or lunch, you decide!


Torte aux Blettes (adapted from River Cottage Veg):

recipe for pie crust as follows:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
3/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and lemon zest in food processor.

Add cold butter and pulse until butter is mostly combined with flour, but a few pea-sized pieces remain.

Add egg, egg yolk, and lemon juice, and pulse just to combine. If dough is too dry, add 1 tbsp. of ice cold water.

Dump dough out onto piece of wax paper or plastic wrap, cut in half, and shape into two disks. Cover disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate while making filling (you can also freeze the discs separately wrapped, for later use).

(This is enough dough for 2 pies, or just one pie with a top crust).

Press pastry into an 9" fluted tart pan (if using a top crust, then fit into a 9" pie dish).

Filling:
1 1/2 lbs. of Swiss chard, leaves only, stems discarded (I used rainbow chard)
zest of a lemon
1/3 cup of golden raisins,
3 tbsp of brandy or warm water to plump raisins
2 eggs
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (I did not use)
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 large apples (I used Golden Delicious), peeled

Wash the chard and place in a heavy lidded saucepan. With some water still clinging to the leaves, steam the chard for about 10 minutes with the lid on. You may have to add some water to the pan.

When chard is reduced to very little and wilted, squeeze out excess liquid and place chard in a bowl.


Plump the raisins in some warm water or brandy while the chard is cooking.
Add the raisins to the cooked chard in the bowl.

Mix in eggs, lemon zest, sugar, toasted pine nuts.

Peel the apples and grate them into the mixture.


Pour this mixture into the prepared pie crust and bake in a 350F oven for 40-45 minutes.
If using a top crust, dust with powdered sugar, if not then serve naked!

So good!


This is the Tuesday Tart.

Enjoy. :)

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Comments

Natalia said…
Your Tuesday Tart sounds interesting - never thought of eating swiss chard for dessert, but I've always thought the French were so classy, so it must be good. It's probably a savory tart (vs sweet) - I am going to make this on Thursday, I'm hosting several girlfriends for lunch. Thanks for another great idea!
Allison said…
This was my favorite dessert while in Nice. LOVED. I also love the open tart instead of all that pastry. Some people grate in the apple, others slice. Either way, you can not go wrong. So nice to see it here on The Tuesday Tart!
Anonymous said…
If you blindfolded somebody, and gave them a bite of this tart, what would they think they were eating? This recipe scares me a little.
Stacey Snacks said…
Anon,
It's the most popular dessert in Nice,France...........sweet/savory, but much more like an apple pie.

My husband said the same thing "this is weird"......however, he ate the whole tart almost by himself!

Take off the blindfold and try it. :)
Ciao Chow Linda said…
Stacey- your swiss chard is gorgeous. It's actually my preferred green so anytime you want to get rid of some, I'll take it. I've never made a tart like this with apples, but why not? I'm in.
You can ship it to me I love it, also I would eat this tart in a heartbeat without blindfolds.
Anonymous said…
You're cute, Ms. Snacks :o). Actually, the idea of tasting foods blindfolded does intrigue me. I recently read ON THE LINE, a behind the scenes book about Le Bernardin. One section described the intense brainstorming/tastebud bending sessions they have testing out new recipes. It's interesting to imagine how you'd interpret the taste of a dish w/o seeing what it is you're eating. When my kids were little, we would always run weird blind taste tests - jelly belly jellybeans, sodas, Starbursts. Very cool to learn who had the more discerning palate. My middle son's amazing - I'll make a complex Asian dipping sauce w/many ingredients and he'll be able to tell if I've changed my brand of soy sauce! This super power can make him a pain in the a** to cook for sometimes...
Stacey Snacks said…
Anon,
I've missed your comments!

Andy Cohen does the blindfolded taste tests on his nightly show on BRAVO, after the Housewives, if you can stay up past 11 pm.
It's fun!

S.
Marie said…
To all you people who might be frightened to eat a torte de blettes:

Are you kidding me?
Don't you eat apples sauteed with vegetables? Or Spinach sauteed with raisins? Come on, if this combo scares you, then you shouldn't be reading food blogs!

Be adventurous! It's delicious.
We spent our summers in Southern France and this was a common treat, like donuts are for some.

Such a lovely thing.
Try it, you might like it!

:>
Joanne said…
This would be a dessert in France?! No wonder French women don't get fat. I'd definitely much prefer it as a light lunch!
Anonymous said…
I recommend swiss chard enchiladas to use up the extra.
Another winning recipe -- thanks. I plan to make it with kale, just because it's what I grow this time of year. The crust looks interesting. I'm eager to see what the addtion of egg, lemon juice and soda do to it. Thanks Stacey!
I think yours looks very pretty indeed! I also usually have lots of chard although this year, something has eaten it all :( But I am still bookmarking this for next year...it sounds so interesting. x
Anonymous said…
My very finicky daughter just got home from Europe. Nice was her favorite place and had the best food of her trip. She HATES swiss chard, any kind of nuts, and raisins. Guess what she LOVED in Nice? This very dessert that she was introduced to on a food tour! RAVES ABOUT IT. I found this recipe because I was trying to find out how I could make it for her, so thanks for posting it!