Kids Dish

A recent comment reminded me of my failed, but delicious, leek and swiss chard tart a few months ago. Earlier this week I decided to give it another go and I picked up a box of puff pastry at the store. The next day I went to work. I didn’t have any leeks so I sliced two onions into half moons and put them over a low flame with a tablespoon of butter to caramelize. Once they softened a bit I stirred in salt and pepper. I went into the crisper drawer to get the chard only to realize I had a head of lettuce in the space where the chard should have been.

Lettuce is a lousy chard substitute so I grabbed a yellow squash, a cubanelle pepper, some cherry tomatoes, and a handful of fresh basil from the garden. I quartered the squash lengthwise and cut it into ¼ inch slices and quartered the tomatoes. I chopped the pepper and added it to the onions in the pan. When they were lightly browned I stirred the squash into the pan and let it cook a few minutes to soften.

I rolled out the puff pastry and put in an 8 inch square pan instead of a pie dish to make room for the extra veggies. In a bowl I whisked together a cup of evaporated milk, 4 eggs, 1 egg yolk, salt, pepper, a dash of cayenne and a couple of ounces of grated cheese. I stirred in the vegetables and chopped basil and poured it into the prepared pastry crust. I put the square pan on a rimmed baking sheet and baked it in a preheated 425-degree oven for 25 minutes, then I lowered the heat to 350 and let it cook through for an additional 15.

This time the tart was not a soupy mess. It was firm to the touch and nicely browned on top. I let it sit for a few minutes to settle and cut it into squares. Bob ate more than half of the tart that night and took the rest to work the next day for breakfast. Sam took a few bites before saying, “I don’t like tomamoes,” and wandered upstairs to play with trains. I thought it was pretty good.

The prep time is quick and the recipe is easy to adjust for the vegetables you have on hand. It’s similar to a quiche or frittata with a puff pastry crust.

leek and swiss chard tart without leeks or chard