Chard and Onion Tart

Chard and Onion Tart

Cheese and onion, but so much more!

The simplest of ingredients can come together to make something truly magical, the pinnacle of which has to be cheese and onion! The contrast, as is so often the case, between the sweet sharp onion and soft rich cheese that brings balance and tantalises the taste buds… delicious!

As I was always taught back in the days of professional kitchens, thinking in three’s or five’s is the key to both flavour, texture and presentation. Layering flavour takes odd numbers and cheese and onion is no exception. 

Iron rich leafy greens make the perfect partner, but chard brings another layer, the stems of chard have a bitterness that effortlessly lifts the whole flavour. Pile all of this into a short buttery pastry case and there is picnic perfection! 


For a 24cm loose bottom round tin
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hours 30 minutes
Pastry Ingredients:
175g plain flour
85g cold unsalted butter
Cold water to bind

Filling Ingredients:
220g chard
1 large fresh onion, finely sliced
Rapeseed oil
1 green cardamom, seeds only
Sea salt flakes
250g natural yoghurt
3 whole eggs 
Fresh ground black pepper
Nutmeg
85g farmhouse cheese such as Witheridge in Hay, Nettlebed Creamery
Wholegrain mustard

Preheat oven to 160°C

1. While shop brought pastry is perfectly good, home made always has a lighter crumblier texture. Mass produced pastry always has more water and less fat than a traditional shortcrust dough, making it prone to excessive shrinkage and a tougher texture. 

2. Making your own really is very straightforward. Dice the cold butter quite small and mix with the flour. Combine in a food processor or stand mixer until the butter is fully coated by the flour. The texture will look like sand and there will be no obvious pieces of butter. Slowly add cold water until the dough begins to come together but is not wet. 

3. Roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin and line the tin by folding and lowering into the corners rather than pressing and stretching into place to limit the shrinkage. Cover and chill in the fridge while the filling is made. 

4. Slice the chard stems and cook over a medium heat in a large pan for 3 minutes until beginning to soften. Roughly slice the chard leaves and add to the pan, cooking over a high heat for a further 2 minutes before adding the onion and a teaspoon of salt. Keep stirring until the onion softens slightly then remove from the heat.

5. While the filling is cooling slightly blind bake the pastry case in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, lined with parchment and baking beans. After 20 minutes remove the beans and parchment and bake for a further 10 minutes to dry out the base without any colour. 

6. While this is baking, mix the eggs and yoghurt with the filling then season to taste. Adding the black pepper and nutmeg while cool retains their flavour. Finally mix in the cheese.

7. Spread a thin layer of mustard over the base of the pastry, add the filling and bake at 150°C for around 30 minutes. The filling should have a slight uniform wobble with no liquid.

8. Removed from the oven and cook on a wire rack. This tart will keep nicely in the fridge overnight or simply enjoy once cool enough to cut. 


Chef Notes:
1. This recipe is equally as good with spinach, or even kale, and dried onions. The fresh onion and chard have a lightness of flavour that balances the rich filling particularly well. 
2. A full flavoured farmhouse cheddar style cheese is delicious, but a good blue or goats cheese make for lovely alternatives.

Robin Popham
Chef at ‘Create Terroir’ and Sandy Lane Farm veg box customer