CSA Summer Challenge: Pizza Rustica

Here is what was in this week's share:
Swiss Chard
Beets
Some kind of strange beets?  Or water chestnuts?
Lettuce
Spinach
Different Lettuce
Garlic Scapes

I have one recipe that uses Swiss Chard.  It's the slow cooker lasagna, and it's fantastic.  But it's also not exactly slow cooker and heavy dinner weather.  With this week's abundance of Swiss Chard from the CSA share I found a new recipe to try.

A word of warning.... this is no "hey, I just got home from work, this would be a great recipe to have for dinner tonight."  There are a lot of time-intensive steps here.  A weekend brunch or dinner are your best bet if you're a working mom.

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

• 7.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup water

Torta:

• 2 medium red bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 pound Swiss chard, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 8 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 ounces fontina cheese, shredded (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 large egg white
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon fat-free milk

DIRECTIONS

To prepare crust, weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and baking powder in a food processor; pulse 2 times to combine. Combine 1/3 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl. With processor on, slowly add oil mixture through food chute, and process just until dough begins to form a ball (dough will be crumbly). We're getting overly complicated early here.  Mixing it all in a traditional bowl with a spoon works just fine.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 3 minutes; add enough of the remaining 2 tablespoons flour to prevent dough from sticking to hands. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Press each portion into a 5-inch circle on plastic wrap. Cover with additional plastic wrap. Chill at least 30 minutes.

To prepare torta, preheat broiler to high.

Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 10 minutes or until blackened. Place in a paper bag; fold to close tightly. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel and coarsely chop.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add chard to pan; cook 1 minute or until greens begin to wilt. Place chard and bell peppers in a large bowl. Return pan to medium heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots and garlic to pan; cook for 1 minute. Add mushrooms; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place mushroom mixture and chard mixture in a fine sieve; let drain 5 minutes. Place vegetable mixture in a large bowl. Add ricotta and next 7 ingredients (through 2 eggs) to vegetable mixture, stirring to combine.

Preheat oven to 375°. 

Slightly overlap 2 sheets of plastic wrap on a slightly damp surface. Unwrap one dough portion, and place on plastic wrap. Cover dough with 2 additional sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into an 11-inch circle.

Again, overly complicated.  And, the dough doesn't roll well through the plastic wrap- it won't spread out enough to make the 11-inch circle.  Forget the damn wrap, put the dough on the counter and roll it out with a rolling pin. Place the dough in freezer for 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can be easily removed. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap; fit dough, plastic wrap side up, into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove remaining plastic wrap. Spoon vegetable mixture into prepared pie plate.

Slightly overlap 2 sheets of plastic wrap on a slightly damp surface. Unwrap remaining dough portion, and place on plastic wrap. Cover dough with 2 additional sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into an 11-inch circle. Place the dough in freezer for 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can be easily removed. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap; fit dough, plastic wrap side up, over vegetable mixture. Remove remaining plastic wrap. Press the edges of dough together. Fold edges under, and flute. Brush top of dough with milk. Cut several slits in top of dough to allow steam to escape.  As you can see, I did not have enough dough to make the bottom crust, and had to borrow from the top.  So the top was kind of messy.  But it worked.

Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool 30 minutes. Cut into 8 wedges.

VERDICT

If you've got the time, this is a great recipe.  But between the dough making, chopping and cooking all the vegetables, and the 45-minute cooking to finish it off, it's a long recipe from start to finish.  

Overall it's a great dish.  Very different from what I usually cook in the house, but this is a challenge after all, and I'm trying to stretch a bit from our usual.

My husband loved it.  I served it with a side of salad (also from our CSA share) but this would also make a great quiche-like dish for a brunch on the weekends. 

NUTRITION

• Calories: 348
• Fat: 19.8g
• Saturated fat: 5.6g
• Monounsaturated fat: 11.1g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 2g
• Protein: 14.5g
• Carbohydrate: 29.4g
• Fiber: 2.9g
• Cholesterol: 73mg
• Iron: 3.3mg
• Sodium: 589mg
• Calcium: 220mg