Visiting
our local market today, there was such an incredible variety of vegetables on
display that it was hard to choose.
What caught
my eye was a wonderful fresh and crunchy
Swiss Chard.
This humble but delicious greenstuff has been
around for centuries and has a high
contain of vitamin A and C, minerals ,fiber and proteins.
Its
slightly bitter taste fades with cooking and gives way to an amazing, delicate
flavor.
I usually
prepare the filling with a bit of heavy cream, but this time I opted for a more
natural approach, letting the fine aroma of the Swiss Chard and Spinach play the main role.
To prepare
the Swiss Chard Pie
You need:
For the dough:
300g (10.5
oz.) flour
½ tea spoon salt
150g (5.2oz.)
cold butter cut in small cubes
1 large egg
1 1/4
spoonful water
For the filling:
750 g Swiss
Chard (large stems removed)
250g Baby
spinach
2 spoonful
olive oil
1¼ cup
onions cut in small cubes (I used half red and half white onions)
1 red pepper,chopped
4 eggs
1 cup roughly grated Gruyere cheese
¼ finely
grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup roasted pine nuts
Preparation:
Mix flour
and salt.
Add the
cold butter cubes and with your fingertips gently blend the butter into the
flower.
Delicately knead the
dough until the flour has a uniform color.
Beat the
egg slightly, mold a whole in the middle of the dough and add the egg and
a spoonful of water.
Knead
thoroughly until smooth,
Note: do
not overprocess, otherwise the crust will toughen.
Shape into
a ball and cover with cling film.
Chill for
at least 30 minutes or up to three days.
Between 2
cling film sheets roll out dough and place into a greased pie pan.
Press
mixture into bottom and up side of the pan.
Use a fork
to make wholes over the bottom of the pastry
Wash chard
and spinach, remove large stems.
In the
meantime boil water in a large pot.
Cook the
chard only for about 1 minute or until chard wilts.
Repeat the
same procedure with the spinach.( the spinach might take a few seconds less
than the chard until it wilts.)
Mix spinach
with chard, drain the water and press out excess liquid.
Chop chard
and spinach roughly. Set aside.
Heat olive
oil in a large pan and sauté onions and red pepper until glazed.
Add chopped
greenstuff, salt and pepper slightly, stir well, then combine carefully the
whole eggs and the Gruyere cheese with the vegetable mix.
Pour chard
mixture over the prepared crust,
top with grated Parmesan and bake in preheated oven at 180°C (370 F) ,about 40 to 45 minutes or until crust is set.
Wait about
10 to 15 minutes before serving, sprinkle with roasted pine nuts.
