I really haven't been keeping up with my recipe postings although I've made lots of new dishes lately. Hopefully, I'll get more of them written up now that gardening season is almost done. One of the few productive crops left in the garden is the Tuscan Kale so I thought I'd share a recent recipe using it. Although I am still getting kale from the plants, I'm pretty much left only with the top leaves, so they are almost as much rib as they are leaf! Here they are before and after removing the rib (stem).
Most of my tarts (those using a single pastry shell) follow the same technique ... put some savoury ingredients into the bottom of the shell, add in an egg/cream mixture, top with cheese and bake. The combinations are pretty much endless even if you limit the ingredients to vegetarian. In this version, I've started it off with bacon, but it can easily be omitted.
Ingredients:
Single pastry shell
3 slices bacon (or similar amount of chopped pancetta)
75 grams kale, rib removed, then chopped (2 cups loosely packed)
1 cup cubed, cooked butternut squash
2 large eggs
2-3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup 10% cream
2 oz goat cheese, crumbled
Oven should be set at 400 degrees F. Blind bake the shell for 10 minutes then set aside.
Chop bacon into 1" pieces and cook until most of the fat is rendered. Remove all but 1 Tbsp of the fat (I just pat around the pan with a paper towel) and add the chopped kale leaves. Toss the bacon around with the kale and cook until tender. Allow to cool slightly.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl then add in Parmesan and cream.
Combine the kale with the squash and spread out on the bottom of the shell.
Pour the egg/cream mixture over top, then finish with the crumbled goat cheese.
Bake about 30 minutes or until filling is set. If crust starts getting too dark, finish baking with a piece of tinfoil lightly covering the tart (so it doesn't touch the filling). Let sit for about 8-10 minutes to set properly.
Serve hot or cold with a side salad or as part of a brunch menu.
This is definitely something I want to try. It is much like my wife's spinach pie, though she uses more cheese and omits the cream. I love sound of the kale/squash/bacon combo. There is truly nothing not to like in there! And it would be a versatile recipe too, a good way to use odds and ends from the garden.
ReplyDeleteYep, you can pretty much toss just about anything in with a similar ratio ... sometimes I make it with ricotta instead of cream so more on the "cheese" side as well. Admittedly, I nibbled on the kale and bacon combo as it was too tasty not to so I ran a bit shorter than expected ...
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