This Mediterranean-inspired tart makes a great light meal served with vinaigrette-dressed baby greens. For the pastry, I’ve adapted a recipe by master baker Nick Malgieri using freshly milled Montana-grown flours from Judy at Conservation Grains. The buckwheat adds good flavor and a purplish hue, but you can leave it out and double up on the spelt or whole wheat. I make this tart in a 9- to 10-inch springform pan, but a similarly sized round cake pan or deep-dish pie plate works as well.
Yield: 1 tart, serves 6-8
ITALIAN EGG PASTRY
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon lukewarm water
1/3 cup spelt or whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Sprinkle yeast over the lukewarm water in a mixing bowl and let stand until yeast is dissolved. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the egg, olive oil, salt, and flours. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple minutes. Shape into a ball and cover with a cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes before rolling.
FILLING
2 large bunches Swiss chard, kale, spinach, or other sturdy greens (1–2 pounds)
1 yellow onion
6 green onions
2 garlic cloves, minced and mashed with ½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 large eggs
8 ounces whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano or other high-quality Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease the interior bottom and sides of pan with butter or nonstick spray.
Rinse greens in a large bowl of water; lift out and roll up in a clean kitchen towel to absorb excess water. Remove central rib stem from each leaf, stack together, and finely chop. Stack the leaves, roll them up, and cut across every inch into ribbons. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and the chopped stems and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic and greens and cook until wilted, another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool as you roll out the pastry. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the Italian Egg Pastry into a large, thin circle, approximately 14–16-inches in diameter.
Roll up pastry onto your rolling pin, transfer to your prepared pan, and ease the pastry down to line the bottom and sides, allowing excess to drape over edge.
Press and drain off as much liquid as possible from the wilted greens, then turn out onto cutting board and roughly chop. Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk in the ricotta. Add ¾ cup Parmesan, the chopped greens, salt and pepper. Mix to combine and pour into the pastry-lined pan. Sprinkle top with remaining ¼ cup Parmesan, fold pastry edges toward the center.
Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes then lower oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until filling is set and top begins to brown, about 20–25 minutes more. Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator and enjoy chilled, room temperature, or reheated in a warm oven.
