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Sweet Swiss Chard Tart with a Cookie Crust – Tarte aux Blettes

This sweet Swiss chard tart with a cookie crust is one special dessert. Roasted Bartlett pears, golden raisins, pine nuts, and cinnamon add their sweetness to the tender green filling. You must try this recipe!

Sweet Swiss Chard Tart with a Cookie Crust | Letty's Kitchen

When I was in the south of France, I saw Tarte aux Blettes on the dessert menu. Of course I ordered it. What a surprise–eating your greens for dessert.

Not long after, I tried making the tart from a recipe in the old cookbook. I didn’t like how that recipe came out. Nevertheless, anytime I came across another version of this Swiss chard tart, I tried it. A Google search shows plenty of recipes for Tarte aux Blettes out there, including translations from renowned French pastry chefs.

David Lebovitz posted his rendition of Tarte aux Blettes on his blog. Two pounds of chard for each tart is a lot, much more than one bunch. So this tart most appropriate in the summer, when gardens are overflow with tender chard. I took David’s recipe and made it mine. I used a sweet sugar cookie crust, and fresh pears instead of apples. I skipped the Parmesan cheese in David’s recipe.

cooked chard for Sweet Swiss Chard Tart with a Cookie Crust | Letty's Kitchen

When I was asked to prepare dessert for Utah’s Slow Food Feast of the Five Senses dinner, it was the perfect chance to perfect my own recipe. My audience would be captive, meaning they couldn’t choose from a menu and order a rich chocolate cake instead.

There was no choice–everyone got my dessert. The fundraiser gala was mid-September, when gardens in our high altitudes are peaking. From local farmers, I begged 22 pounds of sweet fresh-picked chard, enough for 11 tarts! From one farmer, I found young and tender chard, another farmer donated rainbow chard with colorful stems.

Sweet Swiss Chard Tart with a Cookie Crust | Letty's Kitchen

I served the tart with candied red chard stems and Moscato-poached Utah pears, both roasted to intensify their flavors. A scoop of refreshing crème fraîche sherbet finished the plate.

People still express their delight over the dessert surprise–that Tarte aux Blettes–Sweet Swiss Chard Tart with a Cookie Crust.

You’ll want a 9-inch fluted pan with a removable bottom for this tart.

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8 comments

  • Thank you so much for posting the recipe Letty! I loved the dessert when you made it for the Feast of 5 Senses for Slow Food. I am going to share the recipe with…my cooking class at the Indian Family Services and my office. I highly recommend this dessert to anyone who hasn’t tried it!!! Reply · 7 November, 2011

  • That’s an amazing looking dessert. Unlike others, I started to read when I saw chard in the title but I’ve never seen it sweet. Great job. Reply · 6 December, 2011

  • Thanks Tammy. You must try making it when you are swimming in chard–it is a true surprise that works–not weird at all. I served it to my in-laws and offered a prize if one could guess what was in the tart. They were happy to enjoy their treat and didn’t get close to the answer. Reply · 6 December, 2011

  • ramona

    I was at the feast in September and this was by far my favorite course of the evening (and I am not a big dessert eater). My fiance and I still talk about this fabulous tart and how it was so perfectly done. I have been meaning to try it out at home; I found the recipe from David Lebovitz and a few others, but I am just thrilled that I came across the actual recipe that was used for the feast. This is my weekend project for sure. Thank you very much for posting it. Reply · 13 January, 2012

    • So glad you enjoyed the dessert and have fun re-creating it at home–make sure you have the right amount of chard because it is one of the incredible shrinking greens! Reply · 13 January, 2012

  • hi,
    it sounds like you did not have enough weights to keep the dough from sliding down. Was the rolled crust super cold when you put it in the oven and were the beans or other pie weights in the parchment for the blind-bake all the way to the top of the pie pan? Reply · 13 January, 2012

  • D Marshall

    …….trying this with minor substitutions; fresh figs instead of pears, pecans instead of pine nuts, green seedless grapes soaked in Cointreaux liqueur instead of raisins in pear liqueur — gotta go with what I have in the cupboard/freezer.
    ……just trying to make swiss chard a bit more enticing for the family. Reply · 18 August, 2017

    • Wow–your variations sound incredible. Your family will love this tart! Reply · 24 August, 2017

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