Swiss Chard, Potato, and Goat Cheese “Tart”

My kitchen must be missing an elf.  At least, that’s who I think is probably in charge of making food look the way it does in magazines (or even in food blogs).

Still, tonight’s effort was even further from Cooking Light‘s gorgeous picture than normal, even for me. True, I didn’t follow the recipe to a T.  True, I may have used slightly more olive oil than called for.  But the dough in the following recipe really just never came together in the way that I could fold it over without it falling apart on me.

No matter, I made pizza instead.  And it was still delicious.

Swiss Chard, Potato and Goat Cheese Pizza (depending on your magical elf situation)

• 1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup olive oil, plus more
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 bunch Swiss chard
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 cup peeled and thinly sliced potato (this takes about 2/3 of 1 potato; make baked french fries with the rest!)
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme (less if you’re using dried)
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 egg white
• 2 oz goat cheese

1. Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and baking powder in a food processor.  Pulse a few times to combine.  Mix olive oil and water together in a small bowl; with the processor on, pour the mixture slowly through the chute.  Process until the dough is crumbly and then knead on a floured surface to form a ball.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Remove stems from the chard leaves and chop.  Chop leaves as well.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add the olive oil, chard steams and onion to pan.  Saute for two minutes.  Add the chard leaves, saute an additional 2 minutes before adding a pinch of salt, the potato, and thyme.  Cook for a few minutes and then remove from heat and cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Unwrap the dough and roll out into a circle on a floured surface (this is where my dough fell apart; I decided to do this directly on parchment paper so I could move it without crumbling it).
4. Put the dough on parchment paper and place on a baking pan.  Spread the chard mixture evenly across the dough surface.
   1. If you’ve followed the recipe more closely than I did and your dough is feeling cooperative, you should leave a two inch border between the end of the dough and the chard; fold these edges over toward the center, pressing gently to seal.  It won’t cover the whole mixture, just part of it. Combine 1 teaspoon water with the egg white and brush over the edges.
   2. If you’re like me, you’ll just spread the mixture as best you can and make your tart a pizza (with an admittedly olive oil-tasting crust).  You can brush the edges with the egg white and water mixture, just to be fancy.
5. Sprinkle goat cheese and pepper over the chard mixture.  Bake for 40 minutes.

The Verdict:

Despite what the compare and contrast pictures above suggest, this was still a good recipe.  You can taste the olive oil in the crust, which has a bit of a shortbread-like texture (it actually reminded me a lot of an earlier Martha Stewart recipe for spinach pie).  The chard, onions, and potato all mix terrifically with the goat cheese.  It does take a while to make – almost two hours, start to finish (this includes the dough chilling time).  So, probably not a go-to in our kitchen.  But I think this is one to try again, perhaps with a some different fillings.