A Seasonal Tart

As I was preparing dinner for friends recently, I was undecided about what to serve for appetizers, so I looked in my refrigerator and freezer to see what I had to work with.

I found the following: Home made frozen pie dough; Arugula Pesto (that I made back in March); and Swiss chard from my Full Circle delivery.

So I decided to make a savory galette. A galette is sort of a free-form tart that is less formal than a pie, but can use many of the same types of ingredients. (Here’s a definition from Wikipedia.) This is less formal way to serve a traditional tart and was more appropriate for a backyard gathering with friends.

This pesto-and-chard-based tart was a good complement for the Tomato-Mozzarella-Pesto Bites I also served.

Savory Spring Galette
Serves 8 as an appetizer
½ recipe basic pie dough (see below)
3-4 tablespoons pesto
4-6 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
1 cup Swiss chard chiffonade*
1 teaspon olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
½ teaspoon kosher salt

* To make Swiss chard chiffonade, clean and trim about 4 leaves of Swiss chard, then cut them into narrow slivers—as shown in the photo at right.

Place dough on floured parchment paper. Roll out to about 1/8-inch thick. Spread pesto over the surface leaving a ½-inch border. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Lightly sauté Swiss chard in a pan with about 1 teaspoon of oil until it is just wilted. Sprinkle chard over the dough, along with pine nuts and salt. Fold dough edges inward, forming about an inch-wide crust. (See photo at right for an example.)

While leaving dough on the parchment, slide onto baking sheet. Bake in a 350° F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is golden.

Tina’s Tip: This recipe can be adapted to the seasons or to what you have in your freezer and refrigerator. Think of it like a pizza. You could use asparagus and prosciutto with goat cheese, or mushrooms and tomatoes, for example.

Basic Pie Dough
Note: This makes enough for a double-crusted pie. You will only need half of the dough to make your galette.
2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup vegetable shortening, chilled
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
6-8 tablespoons ice water

Process flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add shortening and process until mixture has the texture of coarse sand—about 10 seconds. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, then cut butter into the flour until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse crumbs, with butter bits no larger than small peas—this should take about ten 1-second pulses. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl.

Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture. With a rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix. Press down on the dough with the broad side of the spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 2 tablespoons more ice water if dough does not come together.

Divide dough into two balls and flatten each into a 4-inch disk. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days, before rolling.

Pie dough recipe is from Baking Illustrated (America’s Test Kitchen, Brookline, MA; 2004).

Tina’s Tip: If you make a full recipe of dough, put half in the freezer so you can pull it out and make a second galette when you have unexpected dinner guests.