Crostata with Swiss chard, leeks and walnuts

English chef Anna Jones cooks vegetarian food that is surprising, and her recipes are anything but difficult to make. In her new book Vegetarian Year-Round, she takes the reader on a delicious journey through the seasons. This crostata with Swiss chard, leeks and walnuts is fantastic served with a simple green salad.

Anna Jones: ‘This easy tart is quick to make. The crumbly walnut pastry is the centrepiece. It encloses a filling of sweet, buttery-soft leeks, Swiss chard and green herbs. The pastry is quite crumbly because of the walnuts, but they make it so wonderfully crisp that it is worth the effort. You shape the tart yourself, so if the pastry tears, you can press it back together with your fingers; do check the edges of the pastry after filling it to make sure all the gaps are sealed and no filling can escape. I serve it with simple boiled potatoes and a salad dressed with lemon juice.’

Method

1. First make the pastry. Grind the walnuts finely in a food processor, but be careful; if you process them for too long, you will end up with nut butter. Using the pulse setting, process in the spelt flour and salt.

2. Using the pulse setting, process in the butter until the mixture forms a coarse dough. With the machine running, add a tablespoon of the ice water and let the blade turn four more times. Remove the lid from the food processor and squeeze the dough. Add a little more water if the dough seems dry and process it until it forms a ball; the dough should feel greasy, not crumbly. Wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the fridge.

3. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt. Fry the leeks for 5–7 minutes until soft and sweet.

4. Meanwhile, wash the Swiss chard and separate the leaves from the stems. Cut the stems into 2 cm pieces, roll up the leaves and cut them into 1 cm-wide strips.

5. Now return to the leeks. Add the garlic, chilli flakes and fennel seeds and fry for a few minutes until the mixture smells fragrant. Stir in the Swiss chard stems. Fry for 5 minutes until they are no longer raw. Stir in the Swiss chard leaves and vinegar. Fry the mixture for 4 minutes until the leaves have wilted.

6. Leave the vegetables to cool on a plate and heat the oven to 220 °C. 7. Finely chop the herbs and place them in a large bowl. Grate in the Parmesan and beat in the eggs with a fork. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

7. Remove the dough from the fridge and cover a large baking tray with baking paper. Drizzle a little olive oil into the centre of the baking paper. If your baking tray is fairly flat, you can roll out the dough into a circle 30 cm wide and 1 cm thick. If you have a regular deep baking tray, turn it upside down and place the paper on the underside.

8. Mix the cooled vegetables with the egg mixture. Place the vegetables in the centre of the dough, leaving a 3 cm border all around. Carefully fold the pastry edge over the vegetables and pinch it into light pleats. The dough is crumbly and more difficult to work with than other pastry, and tears easily, but the end result is worth it.

9. Place the crostata in the centre of the hot oven and bake for 35 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the filling begins to bubble. Lower the oven temperature to 200 °C and bake the crostata for another 15 minutes until the pastry is thoroughly cooked.

10. Leave it on the baking tray for 10 minutes, then place it on a wire rack and allow the pastry to become crisp.

Title: Vegetarian Year-Round
Author: Anna Jones
Publisher: Fontaine Uitgevers
Price: €34.99