By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus resting
- Rating
- 4(96)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This is a version of a classic French tourte aux blettes, a Swiss chard pie made with abundant chard, raisins, pine nuts, Parmesan or Gruyère, sugar and apples. But here, the usual olive-oil crust has been swapped for a flaky butter-based pâte brisée.
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Ingredients
Yield:10 to 12 servings
- 222grams/8 ounces French-style unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 5grams/¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 30grams/2 tablespoons sugar
- 370grams/3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour, or a mix, sifted
- 1tablespoon cold vodka
- ½cup golden raisins
- ½cup rum
- 8cups Swiss chard leaves, coarsely chopped (from 1 generous bunch)
- 2pounds (4 large) tart apples, such as Pink Lady or Braeburn, peeled, cored and cut in thin (¼-inch thick) slices
- 2tablespoons raw brown sugar
- 3eggs
- Pinch of salt
- ¼cup lightly toasted pine nuts
- ¼cup powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting, sifted
- 2ounces Gruyère, Comté or manchego, grated (½ cup)
For the Crust
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
408 calories; 21 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 46 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 18 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 285 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the crust: Place butter, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix at the slowest speed for 30 seconds. Add flour and mix at the slowest speed until well combined. Add vodka and 3 tablespoons water and mix only until dough comes together; add more water as needed. Do not overmix. The dough should be completely hom*ogenized and will feel slightly tacky.
Step
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Scrape mixture out onto a work surface. Weigh and divide into two uneven pieces, one ⅔ of the total weight and the other ⅓ of the total weight. Flatten to about ½-inch thick, wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for several hours, preferably overnight.
Step
3
Lightly butter a 9- to 9½-inch tart pan or pie dish. Roll out the larger piece of the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Transfer dough to pan, allowing edges of dough to hang over sides. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least one hour.
Step
4
Meanwhile, make the filling: Place raisins in a bowl and cover with rum. Leave for 20 minutes or longer.
Step
5
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Adjust oven rack so it is in the lower third of the oven.
Step
6
Wash the greens. Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the still-wet chard a handful at a time. Stir until greens collapse, then add another handful. Add a generous pinch of salt and continue until all greens have wilted. Transfer to a colander and rinse with cold water. Take up handfuls of chard and squeeze out excess water. Chop coarsely and set aside. You should have 1 generous cup chopped chard.
Step
7
Place sliced apples in a large bowl and toss with brown sugar. Drain raisins and discard rum.
Step
8
In another large bowl, beat eggs. Remove 2 tablespoons for brushing the crust and set aside in a small bowl or ramekin. Add a pinch of salt to the eggs in the large bowl, and stir in chard, apples, raisins, pine nuts, powdered sugar and cheese.
Step
9
Remove lined pan and remaining dough from refrigerator. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, until the edges of the dough in the pan are pliable. Pierce the bottom all over with a fork, leaving about an inch between the rows. Brush lightly with beaten egg. Scrape in chard and apple filling.
Step
10
Roll out remaining dough and place on top of filling. Join the edges of the top and bottom pastry and pinch together to form an attractive lip. Make a few slits in top of dough and place pan on a baking sheet. Brush the top generously with reserved egg. If there are any spare pieces of dough, shape into little balls to decorate the top crust.
Step
11
Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake another 40 to 45 minutes, until nicely browned. (If edges are browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil after 30 minutes.)
Step
12
Allow to cool completely, which will take a couple of hours. The pie can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, before serving.
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Cooking Notes
Nathan
I try unusual pie recipes all the time, but I've never gotten such looks of bewilderment & pity before. This isn't a bad pie, it's just a very weird one. I can image a savory swiss chard pie with apples in it, but this ain't that. It's an apple pie with chard in it, and the chard doesn't bring anything special to the party. In my book, it's an unnecessary pie.
AnneG
"La tourta de blea" has been prepared in Provence for eons. All my Provencal cookbooks designate it as "sucre", a sweet course. It can usually be found on the buffet table as part of the old Christmas tradition of "12 Desserts". (However, 1 recipe says to use less sugar when serving it as a hors d'oeuvre.) I add very little sugar and think of it as a vegetable pie with fruits to sweeten it a bit. Why chard? It is a very typical food there, even growing wild.
Carla
I made some adjustments to this (1) to make it savory, and (2) gluten free. I used a pre-made gf pie shell. For the filling, I browned 0.5# of sweet italian sausage, removed from casing, used a slotted spoon to remove from the pan; added finely chopped shallot to pan, then chard; and then made the rest of the filling as instructed except I left out the sugars and the pine nuts. I covered loosely with foil, cooked for 45 minutes on 375, then uncovered for another 10 min. It actually kinda worked.
Randy
In her article Martha Rose refers to this as a dessert.
mranzer
This is one of the weirdest dishes I've ever made or eaten. Individually there are some lovely flavor profiles in the pie, but the chard takes over completely. I can't taste the cheese, pine nuts, or rum raisins, (what a waste of rum) and, there's only a hint of apple flavor. The pie is oddly not a good balance of sweet and savory.
jessica
This recipe is so great, but this pate brisee is really dry... and it didnt make enough, so add 25% more so you have plenty of dough. Or maybe revert to the olive oil crust mentioned. Nevertheless, we had shockingly little left over after our family of three finished dinner. You can add more chard to make it definitively not dessert!
Ann
Baked with end of summer garden bounty of apples and chard. Smells amazing. Looking forward to eating it. One comment: Who discards rum?
Carla
I made some adjustments to this (1) to make it savory, and (2) gluten free. I used a pre-made gf pie shell. For the filling, I browned 0.5# of sweet italian sausage, removed from casing, used a slotted spoon to remove from the pan; added finely chopped shallot to pan, then chard; and then made the rest of the filling as instructed except I left out the sugars and the pine nuts. I covered loosely with foil, cooked for 45 minutes on 375, then uncovered for another 10 min. It actually kinda worked.
AnneG
"La tourta de blea" has been prepared in Provence for eons. All my Provencal cookbooks designate it as "sucre", a sweet course. It can usually be found on the buffet table as part of the old Christmas tradition of "12 Desserts". (However, 1 recipe says to use less sugar when serving it as a hors d'oeuvre.) I add very little sugar and think of it as a vegetable pie with fruits to sweeten it a bit. Why chard? It is a very typical food there, even growing wild.
Nathan
I try unusual pie recipes all the time, but I've never gotten such looks of bewilderment & pity before. This isn't a bad pie, it's just a very weird one. I can image a savory swiss chard pie with apples in it, but this ain't that. It's an apple pie with chard in it, and the chard doesn't bring anything special to the party. In my book, it's an unnecessary pie.
Paul
I am delighted by the use of chard with apples and nuts and cheese. I often braise goat in such a mix. I will now try it without the goat. Lovely. Delightful. Keep it up Martha Rose! BTW Nathan, what is a necessary pie? And what is the name of your book please?
Richard
I haven't tried this Nathan, but thanks for the amusem*nt (and plausibly accurate warning).
Pollywanna
The recipe header says it is an olive oil-based double crust but the recipe here is a butter-based crust. Can we please have the olive oil crust, or at least a link to it? Thanks!
Paul
Again, where is the olive oil crust recipe?
Paul
Here's one! http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016715-whole-wheat-yeasted-olive-oil...
Dennis
Since I didn't have any rum in the house, I used Irish whisky. It was very nice!
Donna
Can you replace the rum with cider? Any other ideas?
The pie sounds great.
Karen
Is this a dessert? Or a savoury pie main course?
mjan
I would think that the use of chard and gruyere would make this a savoury dish
Randy
In her article Martha Rose refers to this as a dessert.
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