The classic French tourte aux blettes, a signature dish from Nice, is a Swiss chard pie in an olive-oil-based double crust, made with abundant Swiss chard, raisins, pine nuts, Parmesan or Gruyère, sugar and apples.
As big a fan as I am of just about anything from Nice, this is one dish that has failed to enthrall me. I love the combination of Swiss chard, pine nuts and raisins in savory dishes, but the greens never appealed to me as the dominant ingredient in a dessert.
Then my friend Angie brought a delicious version she had made to a potluck I hosted. Angie’s double-crusted pie was thick with sliced apples, with just a bit of green running through it. It wasn’t very sweet, but it was sweet enough. Her crust was not a classic Mediterranean olive oil crust, but a flaky butter-based pâte brisée with a secret ingredient, vodka, which replaces some water and makes the crust very flaky.
Inspired, I saw what I needed to do to make this dessert work for me: switch the apple-to-Swiss-chard ratio. I used about a third of the amount of Swiss chard leaves called for in classic recipes, and twice the number of apples, sliced thin so that they would soften as the pie bakes.
Now I can say that I love Swiss chard and apple torte — as long as the Swiss chard takes a back seat to the apples.
Apple and Swiss Chard Pie
Time: 2 hours, plus resting
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Ingredients
For the crust
222 grams/8 ounces French-style unsalted butter, such as Plugrá, at room temperature
5 grams/scant 3/4 teaspoon finesea salt
30 grams/2 tablespoons sugar
370 grams/3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour, or a mix, sifted
1 tablespoon cold vodka
For the filling
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup rum
1/2 pound Swiss chard leaves, coarsely chopped (8 cups) or a mix of chard and spinach (about 1 pound or 1 generous bunch on the stem)
2 pounds (4 large) tart apples, such as Pink Lady or Braeburn, peeled, cored and cut in thin (1/4-inch thick) slices
2 tablespoons raw brown sugar
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting if desired, sifted
2 ounces Gruyère, Comté or manchego, grated (1/2 cup, tightly packed)
Preparation
1. Make the crust: Place butter, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix at the slowest speed for 30 seconds. Add flour and mix at the slowest speed until mixture is well combined. Add vodka and 3 tablespoons water and mix only until dough comes together; add more water as needed. Do not overmix. The dough should be completely homogenized and will feel slightly tacky.
2. Scrape mixture out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Weigh and divide into two uneven pieces, one 2/3 of the total weight and the other 1/3 of the total weight. Place each piece on a large piece of plastic and flatten to about 1/2-inch thick. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for several hours, or preferably overnight.
3. Very lightly butter a 9- to 9 1/2-inch tart pan or pie dish. Roll out the larger piece of the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Transfer dough to pan, allowing the edges of the dough to hang over the sides. Chill in the refrigerator, uncovered, for at least one hour while you prepare filling.
4. Make the filling: Place raisins in a bowl and cover with rum. Leave for 20 minutes or longer.
5. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Adjust oven rack so it is in the lower third of the oven.
6. Wash the greens. Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the chard a handful at a time. Stir until greens collapse in the liquid left on their leaves after washing, and add another handful. Add a generous pinch of salt and continue until all the greens have wilted. Transfer to a colander and rinse with cold water to cool. Take up handfuls of chard and squeeze hard to get rid of excess water. Chop coarsely and set aside. You should have 1 generous cup chopped chard.
7. Place sliced apples in a large bowl and toss with brown sugar. Drain raisins and discard rum.
8. In another large bowl, beat eggs. Remove 2 tablespoons for brushing the crust and set aside in a small bowl or ramekin. Add a pinch of salt to the eggs in the large bowl, and stir in chard, apples, raisins, pine nuts, powdered sugar and cheese.
9. Remove the lined pan and remaining pastry from the refrigerator. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, until the edges are pliable. Pierce the bottom all over with a fork, leaving about an inch between the rows. Brush lightly with beaten egg. Scrape in the chard and apple filling.
10. Roll out remaining dough and place on top of the chard and apple mixture. Join the edges of the top and bottom pastry and pinch together to form an attractive lip. Make a few slits in the top of the dough with the tip of a paring knife and place on a baking sheet. Brush the top crust generously with egg. If there are any spare pieces of trimmed dough, shape into little balls to decorate the top of the crust.
11. Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake another 40 to 45 minutes, until nicely browned. (If the edges are browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil after 30 minutes.)
12. Allow to cool completely, which will take a couple of hours. The pie can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, before serving.
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