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| Sarah vs Nature. Blood-Crimson colour coordination. |
Rhubarb Chard, pizza-look alike tart.
Recipe courtesy of Jane Baxter. We reduced the quantity of butternut squash (less is more). We increased the amount of Blue Stilton (live like no tomorrow). We used walnuts as pecans evade our cornershop. More tabasco always welcomed. I would have made it 30 sage leaves rather than 20. Such is life.
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Swiss chard, Squash & Blue Cheese Tart
- 175g plain flour
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 125g cold unsalted butter, diced
- 3 tbsp very cold water
- 75g pecan nuts
- 1 pinch cayenne
- A dash of Tabasco
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 butternut squash
- Olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 small onions, sliced
- 300g Swiss chard (or spinach)
- 200g blue cheese, chopped (I use Devon Blue)
- 50g grated parmesan
- 20 sage leaves
- 1 tbsp butter
Briefly process the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor, add the butter, pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, tip into a bowl and stir in enough water to make a dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for half an hour. On a floured surface, roll into a rough circle, lay on a greased baking sheet, prick with a fork and chill for 15 minutes. In a 200C/400F/gas mark 6 oven, bake the pastry for 10–15 minutes, until golden brown.
Mix the pecans, cayenne, Tabasco and salt on an oven tray and bake for five minutes, until lightly toasted.
Halve, deseed and peel the squash, and chop into 2cm cubes. Place on an oven tray, toss in oil, season and bake for 30 minutes, until tender. Sprinkle over the garlic, bake for five minutes, then set aside to cool.
Gently sweat the onions in oil for 20 minutes until soft but not brown, and set aside. Separate the chard stalks and leaves. Chop the stalks into 1cm pieces, blanch in boiling, salted water for four minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. In the same water, cook the leaves for a minute, remove, refresh under cold water and squeeze out any excess. Add the stalks and leaves to the onions, mix well and season.
In a bowl, combine the pecans, squash, chard and cheese. Use this to cover the pastry base, sprinkle parmesan on top and bake for 10 minutes. Fry the sage in butter until crisp and use to garnish the tart.
