Rustic Tart with Wild Greens

Rustic Tart of Wild Greens
Torta di Erbe Selvatiche

Pastry Dough
Ingredients:
2 3/4 Cups (250 gr) all purpose flour
3/4 Cup (150 gr.) butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
2-3 Tablespoons ice water
pinch of salt

Method:
Sift flour into a mound, add the butter & pinch of salt. Rub together with your fingers or food processor. When mixture resembles crumbly coarse sand incorporate the egg & water. Knead 2-3 times.
Form into a disk, wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Filling
Ingredients:
2 Cups (400 gr) of cooked, drained and squeezed dry greens (mix of wild greens or chard, spinach, escarole, etc.)
1 Cup (250 gr.) sheep’s milk ricotta cheese
zest of half a lemon
generous handful of Parmesan
2-3 slices of prosciutto, chopped
salt & pepper
1 egg, separated

Method:
Cook your greens in boiling, salted water depending on the toughness (spinach may only need 20-30 seconds, chard needs 3-4 minutes).  Drain and squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the greens. Combine the greens in a bowl with the ricotta, parmesan, lemon, prosciutto, salt & pepper. Taste & check your seasonings.

To Assemble the Tart:
Preheat oven to 350 F/ 185 C

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and split in half. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch or 1/2 cm thickness and line the bottom of a tart or pie pan. (We use 9-inch or 25 cm but you can make individual tarts as well.) Make sure to have enough dough to fold the edges back over the the top.

Once pastry is lined in pan, brush with egg white then fill with a generous amount of the chard mixture (filling in evenly).

Brush folded over part on the top with egg yolk as well.

Place in oven, bake 45 minutes - 1 hour until pastry is golden brown & filling is bubbly. Serve warm or room temperature.

Savory Chard & Prosciutto Tart

Eating your greens, never tasted so good: Savory Chard & Prosciutto Tart

Nutrient rich swiss chard goes by many names (bietola in Italian), found in many colors and is a cousin of kale. Chard is a hearty green with a nice bitter bite, holding up better than spinach when cooking. Its fibrous leaves wilt nicely into soups, perfect simply sauteed with garlic & olive oil or elevated to more than just a leafy green when mixed with prosciutto and packed into a savory pie shell!

Garden Tip: Chard is a regenerating plant meaning you can cut it to eat & it will reproduce more leafy greens.

Chard Tart Recipe
Torta di Bietola

Pastry Dough
Ingredients:
2 3/4 Cups (250 gr) all purpose flour
3/4 Cup (150 gr.) butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
2-3 Tablespoons ice water
pinch of salt

Method:
Sift flour into a mound, add the butter & pinch of salt. Rub together with your fingers or food processor. When mixture resembles crumbly coarse sand incorporate the egg & water. Knead 2-3 times.
Form into a disk, wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Filling
Ingredients:
2 Cups (400 gr) of cooked, drained and squeezed dry greens (chard, spinach, escarole, etc.)
1 Cup (250 gr.) sheep’s milk ricotta cheese
zest of half a lemon
generous handful of Parmesan
2-3 slices of prosciutto, chopped
salt & pepper
1 egg, separated

Method:
Cook your greens in boiling, salted water depending on the toughness (spinach may only need 20-30 seconds, chard needs 3-4 minutes).  Drain and squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the greens. Combine the greens in a bowl with the ricotta, parmesan, lemon, prosciutto, salt & pepper. Taste & check your seasonings.

To Assemble the Tart:
Preheat oven to 350 F/ 185 C

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and split in half. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch or 1/2 cm thickness and line the bottom of a tart or pie pan. (We use 9-inch or 25 cm but you can make individual tarts as well.)

Once pastry is lined in pan, brush with egg white then fill with a generous amount of the chard mixture (filling in evenly).
Top with the other half of the dough, rolled out to the same thickness. Pinch the edges, closing the tart securely. Brush the top with egg yolk. Cut 2-3 slits to allow  the steam to escape.

Place in oven, bake 45 minutes - 1 hour until pastry is golden brown & filling is bubbly. Serve warm or room temperature.

Ravioli Stuffed with Greens in Butter & Sage

Photo: La Tavola Marche

  Homemade Ravioli Stuffed with Greens in Butter and Sage Recipe

Egg Pasta Dough Recipe

Pasta

Serves 1
100 grams (or 1 scant cup) of tipo 0 flour (high quality AP flour)
1 egg
pinch of salt

Pour flour onto the table in a mound.  Make a well in the center & crack the eggs into the well.
Slowly incorporate the eggs into the dough using a fork - pulling in the flour to the center of the well. Form into a nice dough, knead for 5-10 minutes until you have worked the dough well & it has a nice shiny outside.  Let stand for half hour to hour & then roll out.


Photo: Stephania Hua, Lick My Spoon

Filling
1 cup (200 gr) (greens (chard, spinach), boiled, drained, squeezed
salt in the water
1/2 cup (125 gr) of sheep’s milk ricotta
1/4 cup (50 gr.) of grated parmesan
squeeze of lemon juice
salt & pepper

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. The mixture/filling must be dry - a moist filling you will have difficulties closing the ravioli with too much moisture in-between the pasta sheets.

Mix it all up - use to stuff cappelletti, tortellini or ravioli.

Photo: Stephania Hua, Lick My Spoon

To stuff your ravioli ~

    •    Roll out a sheet of pasta to 2-3mm thickness -the thinner the better.
    •    Evenly space out small mounds of filling.
    •    Lay another sheet of pasta over the top.
    •    With your fingers gently smooth out any air bubbles, making the basic form of the ravioli.
    •    Cut out ravioli - either squares with a pizza knife or ravioli cutter or a shot glass for circular ravioli. Most importantly making sure the sides are closed without any trapped air.

Tip: To avoid having ravioli from bursting in the water - do not overfill. Too much filling makes the dough over-stretch

Photo: Stephania Hua, Lick My Spoon

Ravioli with Butter & Sage
    •    In a pan slowly melt a couple of tablespoons of butter & gently fry a handful of sage leaves for 1- 2 minutes.
    •    Raise the heat, toss in your cooked pasta with a bit of pasta water.
    •    Season with salt & pepper & serve.

Photo: Stephania Hua, Lick My Spoon

Tip: Ravioli can freeze well in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transferred to a freezer bag. Will last for a few weeks in the freezer. To cook frozen ravioli toss in the boiling water frozen. Allow to cook 2-3 minutes and then try one to make sure the filling is not still cold in the middle.

Photos taken during a pasta class at La Tavola Marche Cooking School in Italy by Stephanie Hua of Lick My Spoon.

Pasta with Spring Veggies (Spaghetti alla Chitarra con verdure di primavera)

Perfect for spring - looking for something fresh & light, delicious & a little different? This it it!

This dish is a great way to incorporate all the fresh vegetables of spring. It's roots are Roman as they called it vignarola or vignole but it is found all over Le Marche!

A versatile dish that you can make as a primi - pasta dish or as a stew/soup by adding more vegetable stock.

It is so simple, Jason has made this for many dinners this spring as his "go to" pasta - everyone has loved it! (One group of Italians even asked to take the rest home with them!) The longest part is the shelling of all the fava. (For the vegetarians out there, sadly, just omit the prosciutto)

Please, please use fresh pasta in this dish - it will make it much softer & worth the effort or cost. We used Spaghetti alla Chitarra a local pasta, but you probably won't find that in the States, so try regular spaghetti, linguini or fettucini.

Pasta with Spring Veggies (Spaghetti alla Chitarra con verdure di primavera)

serves 6

12-16 oz. of fresh pasta

4-5 small artichokes

sea salt & pepper

1 leek, outer leaves removed, cut into 3-inch lengths, washed

1/2 lb. chard (or other nice leafy greens)

extra virgin olive oil

1 small white onion, chopped

3/4 cup of vegetable stock (add another 3/4 cup if you are making into a stew) - use the water you will using to blanch the veggies in.

12 oz. fresh shelled peas

12 oz. of fresh shelled fava (or half a grocery bag full of the beans)

one bunch of asparagus

4 thick slices of prosciutto

small bunch fresh mint & parsley (we have both growing wild)

Put artichokes into a pot of cold, salted water & bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes or until tender (you can check by inserting a knife into the heart) and drain. (Tip: Jason puts a plate on top of the boiling water of artichokes so they don't pop out & stay under water!) Allow to cool, then peel off the outer leaves until you find the pale tender ones, remove the choke (fuzzy white parts) using a spoon. Cut the hearts into quarters.

Fill the pot with new water, add salt & bring to a boil. Blanch the fava beans for a minute, remove from water with a slotted spoon. Blanch the leeks for 3 -4 minutes, until tender, and the chard until just wilted.

Heat a large saucepan, big enough to hold all the ingredients, and add a good splash of oil. Cook the onion, low & slow for about 10 minutes until soft. Cut the tough parts of the asparagus off the bottom & discard, cut into quarter inch pieces. Sauté for 2-3 minutes with onion. Then add the vegetable stock (the water used to blanch the fava, leeks & chard) and the peas, bring to a boil. Cut the prosciutto into bits & add in - simmer for about 10 minutes, until the peas are cooked and soft and the prosciutto has flavored it all nicely.

Chop leeks into strips, run a knife through the chard & stir into the pan. Add the artichoke hearts & fava beans and let simmer for a few minutes. Finish with salt & pepper to taste a small bunch of chopped fresh mint & parsley. Add a few glugs of olive oil.

Toss with pasta & drizzle with a bit more olive oil for the bright flavors & colors of spring! Sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan or grana padano.

Note: you may need a few spoonfuls of pasta water if the dish looks too dry.