Swiss Chard, Bacon and Parsnip Tarts

Preheat the oven to 180˚C

Filling: Peel and quarter the parsnips, cutting out the tough centre core. Cut into 3 cm pieces and cook in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes until just tender. Drain well and set aside.

Slice the stalks of the chard finely and roughly chop the leaves.Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté the bacon, spring onions, garlic, rosemary and the chard stalks for 3 minutes. Add the parsnips, season well and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the chopped leaves and cook, turning often, until tender and wilted. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and cool.

Whisk the sour cream, egg, garlic, parsley, lemon zest and nutmeg together, season and combine with the cooled vegetable mixture.

To assemble: Cut two 14 cm x 23 cm wide rectangles from two pieces of the pastry. Cut the remaining pastry into long 2 cm wide strips. Place the two pieces of pastry on a lined baking tray and brush a 2 cm wide border of egg wash around each piece. Lay the pastry strips on top, trimming them to fit along the ends. Brush the strips with egg wash and repeat with another layer of pastry to give a double thickness border around each tart. This prevents the filling spilling over the sides of the tarts.

Spoon the filling into the two tarts, making sure each has the same amount of parsnip and greens. The mixture will be piled up quite high but will shrink during cooking. Grate Parmesan generously over the tarts and give a good grind of black pepper.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden and the filling is set, turning the trays for even browning if necessary.

To serve: Cut each tart in half, transfer to plates and serve with roasted vine tomatoes if desired. 

To prepare the vine tomatoes pictured, place them in a small roasting dish, drizzle with a little olive oil and season. Roast for 5 minutes or until the skins just start to split.

Cook’s Tip: As a substitute for the parsnips, use a 400 gram tin of artichoke hearts. Drain well and roughly chop. Add to the sauté pan with the Swiss chard.