Peg's Savory Tart with Greens

Here is the tart I was inspired to make after enjoying Charlene’s Hortopita. I am a sucker for most any savory pastry though I rarely take the time to make them. I decided to try an olive oil pastry crust as I thought it would work well with the ingredients I had for the filling, but a butter pastry would work also. In fact, the olive oil pastry I tried was a pain to get into the tart pan—the flavor and texture however were very good. I just used ingredients I had available which included a fair amount of different greens, but no dandelions. So you can be creative and change it up to suit your own taste or availability.

Pastry:

1 ¼ cups unbleached flour

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp baking powder

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tbsp ice water (or a bit more if needed)

Stir dry ingredients together and add the olive oil in a steady stream until incorporated. Add the water a tbsp at a time until the dough comes together. Flatten into a disk and press into a 9 or 10 inch tart pan. This took a bit of effort on my part—I may have just needed to add more water, but didn’t want a tough crust.

Filling:

1 slice bacon, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp each fresh rosemary and thyme, minced

1 tbsp Italian parsley, minced

½ fennel bulb, diced

6 or more cups thinly sliced greens (kale, chard, spinach, mustard, endive, dandelions, whatever)

¾ cups cooked beans, optional (I had some cooked cranberry beans, mushrooms would also be good)

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

2 eggs

1 cup milk

Cheese of your choice (I used about 2 oz. of taleggio and a couple tbsp parmesan)

Salt, pepper, and cayenne (optional) to taste

Kalamata olives, pitted and halved, optional

Sauté bacon in olive oil until cooked; add garlic, herbs and parsley and sauté another minute or so, then add the fennel, season with salt and pepper and cook until tender. Add the sliced greens and beans if used, season again with salt and pepper adding some cayenne, if you like, to taste. The filling should be well seasoned so that you don’t need to season the egg mixture. Cool slightly and pour into prepared tart shell. Sprinkle with the cheese of your choice. Beat milk and eggs together and pour evenly over the filling. Decorate with olive halves if desired. Bake at 350 to 375 degrees until set, and top is beginning to brown about 30 minutes.