Last week I was doing some grocery shopping and spotted the most beautiful rainbow chard I’d ever seen. Big stripes of colour jumped out at me and said “buy me”. I’m usually very good at sticking to the shopping list but this was a kid in the candy shop moment. I had no option but to add it to my basket and even though I had zero ideas of what to make, it seemed essential to life at the time.
Luckily back home I had chef extraordinaire Signor Pots, to make my murky vision of a rainbow chard tart come to life. And he really got carried away, which is why today’s recipe post is a 5 in 1. So the plan is to give you each recipe and then show you how to combine them to make the fanciest tart you ever did see. Go forth and buy that beautiful chard because now you know what to do with it.
Recipe number 1:
Green olive tapenade
• 1 cup pitted green olives
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• ½ cup shiso leaves, chopped*
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
•½ cup pine nuts, toasted
•salt and white pepper, to season
Put olives in a food processor and pulse till coarsely chopped. Add garlic and shiso leaves to the olive mixture. Slowly pour olive oil into processor, running until the mixture combines (do not overmix, a coarse texture is desirable).
Mix in pine nuts and season with salt and white pepper to taste.
*Working in the community garden has led to the discovery of many interesting herbs including shiso. If you don’t have any available just leave it out and you will still have a delicious tapenade.
Recipe number 2:
Smoked Feta
• pot with steamer insert and lid
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• fennel stalk and fronds (from 1 bulb)
• 1 strip orange peel
• 125g Danish feta
• olive oil
• garlic, thinly sliced
Line pot with tinfoil. Place fennel, brown sugar and orange peel in the centre of the pot and mix together.
Place steamer insert in the pot, making sure the insert is not touching the ingredients in the pot, allowing space for the smoke to rise. Cut the feta into 1 inch cubes and place in the steamer basket. Cover with lid.
Smoke on medium heat until cheese begins to brown slightly. This should take 10-15 minutes.
Place smoked cheese in a bowl. Add olive oil to cover the cheese. Add garlic, fresh fennel fronds and thin slices of orange to garnish. Cover with plastic and place in fridge overnight.
Recipe number 3:
Kohlrabi and Fennel Filling
• 1 small kohlrabi
• 1 small fennel
• ½ orange, juiced
• ½ lemon, juiced
• ½ Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Slice fennel and kohlrabi into sticks. Add a little olive oil to a pan. Cook vegetables in the pan for 5 minutes till slightly softened. Add orange juice, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Cook until liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper.
Recipe number 4:
Charred Chard
• 4-5 sticks of brightly coloured rainbow chard
Remove leaves from rainbow chard. Lightly coat the stems in olive oil and cook briefly on the bbq or griddle pan to keep the bright colour.
Recipe number 5:
Rainbow Chard Tart
• 1 sheet of puff pastry (or more if you are making more than 1 tart)
• results of recipe 1,2,3 & 4
• ½ cup sorrel leaves
• 1 egg lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Cut a rounded diamond of puff pastry and place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Start layering the filling, leaving a 3 cm border from the edge of the pastry. Begin with a thick layer of olive tapenade. Then apply a thin layer of the Kohlrabi mixture.
Next layer sorrel leaves on top of the kohlrabi.
Crumble smoked feta over the leaves.
Cut strips of chard to decorate the top of the tart in stripes of colour.
Fold up and pinch the sides of the pastry to encase the filling and brush pastry edges with lightly beaten egg.
Bake for 30 minutes, until pastry is golden brown and the base is cooked.
Making dinner with rainbows has got to be a good idea, right?
I hope you enjoy it!
xxBlighStBistro