Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Cheesy Chard Tarts (for Cheaters...)



























Recently JP and I found my parents' old bread machine in our storage unit and brought it home. I love the smell of fresh bread, but as I make batches and batches of flatbreads all summer for the Farmers Market, I've been having trouble drumming up the enthusiasm to knead, rise, knead, and rise. Bread machine? Why yes, thank you.
So this morning before work I set it all up to make a whole wheat and molasses bread, delayed perfectly so as to be ready when I got home. The smell alone made it worthwhile. However, I knew that I had added the ingredients erroneously, because in my rush I  began making a regular sized loaf and somewhere in the middle of the process started following the recipe for a large loaf. Oops. Throughout my day I was trying to figure out a rescue mission, like croutons or soup in a bread bowl (albeit a square bowl.). I remembered a recipe that I had seen in a vegetarian cookbook from the library a few months back, where the author made tart shells in a muffin pan using sliced bread flattened with a rolling pin. Why not? And so, I give you what turned out to be a delicious dinner - imagine how good yours will be with correctly made bread!

Cheesy Chard Tarts for Cheaters
6 slices whole wheat bread, with crusts cut off & rolled out flat
2 - 3 T butter
4 T goat cheese
half handful shredded parmesan cheese
half handful shredded gruyere cheese (or whatever is in your fridge)
1 large bunch Swiss chard
dash soy sauce
balsamic vinaigrette (or 1 T maple syrup & 1 T balsamic vinegar)

Pre-heat oven to 350. Grease a popover pan or large muffin pan with butter. Gently push a slice of flattened bread into each cup, while keeping it centered - if using a muffin pan, you might be able to cut your slices in half first. Place in the oven for 8 -10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Chop the chard stems roughly and add to the pan, cooking and stirring for about 7 minutes. Shred the chard leaves and quickly saute them with the cooked stems, adding a dash of soy sauce towards the end. Remove from heat and toss with either 2 T dressing or the maple syrup and vinegar. Fill the bottom 1/4 of each 'tart shell' with goat cheese and return to oven for a few minutes. Fill the remainder of the shell with chard mixture and top with shredded cheese. Return to oven long enough to melt the cheese. Serve warm. These would be awesome with lentil soup!
Beware - we also found a Snackmaster sandwich maker and a Coney Island hot dog steamer, so who knows what recipes (for greens) lurk...

4 comments:

  1. these look so great!~ always looking for some new way to cook up the chard.

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  2. thanks - I'm becoming fearful that I might actually run out of chard - I've been so preoccupied with the weather that I never considered the possibility that I myself would be responsible for it's demise!

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  3. What a great rescue idea! I need to make tarts soon, I just never thought of letting the bread machine make it for me! Great idea. Maybe you can do post on flatbread making? I love flatbread but have no idea how to make it. (hint hint)

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  4. Heather, flatbreads will definitely be an upcoming post as I've become an expert through repetition. Also, I make really easy tarts with a whole wheat cracker crust that are so great with pesto & veggies. Sadly, there aren't many veggies left in the garden!

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