Wilted greens tart.Julie Van Rosendaal/The Globe and Mail
As the first tender shoots emerge from thawing soil, our interest in cooking is revived with the promise of spring greens, fiddleheads, asparagus and rhubarb ushering in a summer of fresh fruits and vegetables, whether we grow them ourselves or not.
Kitchens and gardens go together. If your only space is a windowsill or sunny table for containers to sit, you can still grow things to eat – even if it’s just sprouts to scatter over your pastas and salads. For those with more space, or anyone who enjoys escaping to other places through books, The Side Gardener: Recipes & Notes from My Garden is a stunningly photographed story of how bestselling cookbook author Rosie Daykin turned a languishing patch of land beside her Vancouver home into a prolific garden, made even more idyllic with a glass greenhouse, mounds of pansies and sweet peas cascading out of raised beds alongside tomatoes and herbs, and resident chickens.
Home gardeners will appreciate her Vegetable Thoughts – a list of fruits and veg she has had success with, and how. Bakers will love her crumble-topped rhubarb banana bread. Everyone who eats will be captivated by her veg-forward recipes, which make me want to get out into the garden and start planting immediately – and visit the farmers’ market in the meantime.
This stunning tart is perfect for the first greens of spring. The fragile phyllo – which is easier to work with than you might think – gives it a wonderfully rustic look. The tart can be served warm, at room temperature or cold, perfect for breakfast in bed or a larger Mother’s Day gathering. The recipe only calls for six to eight sheets of phyllo but don’t worry, you aren’t on the hook to use the rest up immediately. It can be wrapped well and returned to the freezer.
Wilted Greens Tart
Not only does it save tons of time, but there is also something rather lovely about the randomness of the folds and edges of the finished tart. If pie crust had a laid-back, easygoing cousin, this would be it. Excerpted from The Side Gardener by Rosie Daykin (Penguin).
6 to 8 sheets phyllo pastry
½ cup/113 g butter, melted
2 tbsp butter
1 shallot, peeled and finely diced
1 big handful kale, washed, spines removed, and roughly torn
1 big handful fresh spinach, washed
1 big handful fresh arugula, washed
Sprinkle plus 1 tsp salt
Sprinkle plus ½ tsp pepper
½ cup/55 g crumbled feta cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup/250 ml whipping cream
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Place a piece of phyllo on a clean work surface and use a pastry brush to gently coat it with some of the melted butter. Transfer this piece of phyllo into a nine-inch/23-cm quiche pan, carefully pushing it down to the bottom of the pan. Allow the excess to slightly hang over the edge of the pan. Repeat with the next sheet of phyllo, giving it a 10-degree turn every time you layer a piece. Don’t worry if it tears; just paste it together with a brush of melted butter and carry on until you have completed the whole shell. Set aside.
Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped shallot and cook until it is translucent and has started to soften. Add the kale, spinach and arugula and continue to cook until all the greens are soft and wilted. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in the prepared shell. Sprinkle the crumbled feta over the greens.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and pour over the cheese and greens.
Bake on the centre rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the centre is puffed and the phyllo is a lovely golden brown.
Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool slightly before removing it from the pan and placing it on a serving plate. It can be served warm or at room temperature.
The tart will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for several days.
Makes one nine-inch tart; serves six.