Versatile Veggie

Swiss chard is a vegetable without roots, metaphorically speaking. Experts from bioscientists to cookbook writers have found little or no evidence of a Swiss connection for the leafy green. Even the food writer Elizabeth Schneider, author of “Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini,” begins her chapter on the stalky green with, “As of this sentence, I will no longer add ‘Swiss’ to chard.”

But a muddled pedigree is just part of the confusion. According to Schneider, chard comes from the Latin and French words for thistle, which is a misnomer. So then, if chard is neither Swiss nor a thistle, what exactly is it?

It’s a member of the beet family. Had I known this years ago, when I was first passed a heaping plate of creamed chard, I would have refused to taste it. Throughout my childhood I fought in vain to stop my mother from adding canned beet slices to my tuna salad, a move that irrevocably dyed it a ruby red.

In this country chard is prized for its crinkly leaves, but Schneider is baffled by Americans who lop off the stems and discard them, missing out on their mellow flavor when cooked. Plus, the stems of rainbow chard come in about as many eye-popping colors as a Pucci scarf: chartreuse, candy pink, magenta, cherry, lemon yellow and orange, among others. Although I can appreciate the stems, I’m an inveterate leaf man. I like their deep, earthy flavor, especially when sauteed in butter and sprinkled with a pinch of fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper.

Chard is particularly popular in the Mediterranean, where it’s prepared in countless inventive ways. In Portugal, it’s sauteed with an abundance of garlic and robust olive oil. Throughout the Middle East, chefs add cinnamon, cumin, paprika and hot peppers. Cooks from Nice and Provence usually braise the stalks in bouillon and season them with mashed garlic and anchovies.

Befitting a vegetable with no nationality, the accompanying recipe gets its inspiration from several locales. It’s a nod to Greece, where chard is often stewed with leeks and dill, as well as a homage to Catalonia, where raisins and pine nuts are sprinkled on for extra richness.

A few notes when preparing chard: Like spinach, it contains a lot of grit. Take care to wash the leaves thoroughly in several changes of water. If you want to use both stems and leaves, cut the stems into 1/2-inch pieces and simmer them in chicken stock for 10 minutes or until crisp-tender, then cook them with the leeks. If you use red or rainbow chard, the color may bleed and stain the leeks. If you’re a purist like me, opt for the white stalks.

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Swiss Chard, Leek and Goat Cheese Tart

Serves 10 to 12

Pastry

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Filling

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 pound leeks, white and pale green parts only, rinsed of grit and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 pound Swiss chard, stems discarded, leaves washed and roughly chopped

3 large eggs

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons golden raisins, plumped in boiling water for 10 minutes

3 tablespoons pine nuts

6 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the flour, rosemary, thyme and salt until blended. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, with pieces no bigger than small peas, about 13 to 15 one-second pulses.

Add the mixture to a bowl and drizzle with 4 tablespoons of water. Thoroughly mix with a fork to form a “shaggy” dough. Squeeze some in your hand. If it doesn’t hold together, add the remaining water one tablespoon at a time. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 13-inch circle. Ease it into the tart pan, fitting it snugly against the sides and bottom, and trim the excess. Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork and cover with parchment paper or foil. Fill tart with pie weights or beans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove weights and parchment or foil. Set aside tart shell.

In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and saute the leeks, covered, until softened, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Uncover, add the chard leaves and allow them to cook down and the excess water to evaporate, about 6 to 8 minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add the vegetable mixture and toss to coat. Pour the mixture into the pre-baked tart shell, scatter with raisins and pine nuts, and dot with goat cheese. Bake until the filling is set and puffy, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a rack until room temperature.