Considering turning this long-dormant URL into a food blog. For now, this is what I had for lunch today. I had some CSA vegetables lying around, desperate to be used, along with some extra pastry dough in the freezer, so—voilà.
It’s quite pretty in real life; please pardon my lack of photog/art directing skills.
Anyway, let’s get to it.
A note: the eggs are meant as a binder; this is not a quiche or soufflé, or eggy in any way.
Another note: I am approximating the quantities in hindsight. Feel free to edit per your tastes.
- Butter pastry dough (use your favorite or borrow the one I use, below)
- 2 tablespoon butter (or olive oil if you insist)
- 1 onion (red or white), roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into approximately 1/4” bits
- 1 tablespoon rosemary (dry or fresh)
- 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems separated from greens, all roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup golden raisins (or regular ones)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Dash of ground cloves
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
Roll out pastry dough to about an 1/8-inch thickness (I find that placing it between two sheets of wax paper to roll it out makes things way easier). Press into pie or quiche pan and refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sauté onions, garlic, carrots and rosemary on low heat until vegetables begin to soften, about five minutes. Add chard stems and sauté another three to five minutes. Add chard leaves and cook just until they begin to wilt, a minute or so. Remove from heat and toss with raisins, salt, pepper and cloves. Let cool for 15 minutes or so.
While vegetable mixture is cooling, line the crust with pie weights or beans, and prebake for 10 minutes.
Mix eggs and milk into cooled vegetable mixture and pour all of it in crust. Bake until vegetables are set and crust is lightly browned, 35-40 minutes
Butter Crust (from Gourmet, via Epicurious.com)
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 to 5 tablespoons ice water
Yet another note (from JH): I use one of my favorite kitchen tools, a cocktail muddler, to blend pastry dough — works like a charm.
Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
Squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn’t hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.
Turn out dough onto a work surface. Divide dough into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all dough together with pastry scraper. Press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
