serves
4
prep
15 minutes
cook
45 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
4
people
preparation
15
minutes
cooking
45
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Cooking on location is a very lengthy process. It often takes an hour or two, sometimes much more, to get the cooking station ready, the lighting right, the camera angles and the sound. By the time we’re ready to shoot everybody is hungry and tired, so our generous hosts often spoil us with snacks and drinks. Setting up for the Swiss chard scene took even longer than usual because we had to wait for the restaurant’s guests to finish their lunch and leave before we could even start getting ready. In the meantime, Monique buttered us with tremendous local charcuterie and lots and lots of red wine. By the time we were ready to start everybody was pretty beat and completely unfocused. The result was utter lethargy and dragging the shoot almost until sunset, when, of course, it was time…. to eat again.
Ingredients
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced (85 g)
- 3 celery stalks and leaves, thinly sliced (220 g)
- 8 large chard (silverbeet) leaves, roughly chopped, white stalks discarded (175 g)
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1½ tbsp torn mint leaves
- 1½ tbsp chopped parsley
- 2 tsp chopped sage
- 30 ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 75 g feta, crumbled
- 50 g pecorino, finely grated
- 15 g pine nuts, lightly toasted
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 350 g all-butter puff pastry
- 100 g brocciu cheese or ricotta
- 6 courgette (zucchini) flowers, cut in half lengthways (optional)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- salt and black pepper
Chilling time 10 minutes
Instructions
Place a large frying pan on medium-high heat and sauté the onion, celery, chard (silverbeet), garlic, mint, parsley and sage in the olive oil. Cook, stirring continuously, for 15 minutes or until the greens are wilted and the celery has softened completely. Remove from the heat and stir through the feta, pecorino, pine nuts, lemon zest, ¼ teaspoon of salt and a hearty grind of black pepper. Leave aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Roll the pastry to a 3 mm thick sheet and cut it into a circle, approximately 30 cm in diameter. Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Spread the filling out on the pastry leaving a 3 cm edge all the way around. Dot the filling with large chunks of broccui or ricotta top with courgette flowers, if using. Bring the pastry up around the sides of the filling and pinch the edges together firmly to form a secure, decorative lip over the edge of the tart. Alternatively press with the end of a fork. Brush the pastry with egg and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Bake the tart in the oven for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked on the base.
Remove from the oven and brush with a little olive oil. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Cooking on location is a very lengthy process. It often takes an hour or two, sometimes much more, to get the cooking station ready, the lighting right, the camera angles and the sound. By the time we’re ready to shoot everybody is hungry and tired, so our generous hosts often spoil us with snacks and drinks. Setting up for the Swiss chard scene took even longer than usual because we had to wait for the restaurant’s guests to finish their lunch and leave before we could even start getting ready. In the meantime, Monique buttered us with tremendous local charcuterie and lots and lots of red wine. By the time we were ready to start everybody was pretty beat and completely unfocused. The result was utter lethargy and dragging the shoot almost until sunset, when, of course, it was time…. to eat again.
