Rainbow Chard. Say these two words to anyone who loves leafy greens and you’ll find yourself listening to praise in the sort of excited tones usually reserved for arguably more deserving foods, like ice cream. But if you’ve seen the beautiful chard sauntering around the CSA boxes and farmer’s markets recently, you’d be smitten, too. With its striking red, orange, and yellow-hued stems dipping into deep-green ruffled skirts, this is one good-looking vegetable that deserves to be treated well.
It seems like I just can’t get enough of chard these days, and as I searched for different ways to prepare it, paused on this recipe for a chard-filled yeasted tart. It looked quite appealing, with an inner texture reminiscent of a frittata or Spanish tortilla: a silky mixture of egg and chard, with herbs and cheese to suit your fancy. The presence of a yeasted crust, much lower in fat than a typical tart dough made of buttery pâte brisée, was the real clincher for me. I suppose I could have made a crustless quiche, but I really do love a nice crust…it’s just the richness of pure-butter ones seems a bit much for everyday eating.
I was pretty pleased with the recipe overall, although I tried to make it in a 9-inch tart pan and the filling did overflow a bit - an 11-inch pan is definitely the way to go (if you only have a smaller one, it might work to cut the milk by perhaps half to avoid wateriness). Actually, I might cut the milk anyway, as one friend found it slightly “wet” for his taste. The yeasted crust is pleasantly chewy and rather pizzalike. Do make sure to spray or grease your pan well, though, as it tends to stick a bit otherwise. This tart would make a lovely brunch item or light lunch (with some salad greens on the side if you’re a greens fiend, too). Although it’s good both warm and room temperature, I preferred it warm.
