Italian Comfort Food: Jamie Oliver Inspired Ham and Kale Tart with Homemade Pastry Crust Recipe

This one was one of the first recipes that I noticed and wanted to try when I picked up the ‘Jaime at Home’ cookbook.  It’s one of those recipes that is fairly intimidating (you have to make your own pastry crust) yet ultimately totally rewarding (because it’s so damn good).  Jamie Oliver makes this with spinach…not having any around I opted for Kale, a favorite veggie of Fresh Dish lobster roll author Taylor Barstow.  One of the things I really like about this recipe is the Parmesan cheese, which I supplemented with some Gruyere – Mario Batali (along with many others) considers Parma ‘the king of all cheeses’ – and if you were a doubter before, try this recipe and you’ll likely change your mind.

The ham in the original recipe called for ’smoked ham’, which I couldn’t find in the market and didn’t have the time to smoke the ham myself.  So instead, I opted to use some prosciutto (how can you go wrong, right?) and some standard black forest ham, which turned out to add a little bit of sweetness and was great.  I’d recommend it again. Also, don’t deterred about the 3 onions – I know it seems like a lot, but you’re going to want all of them, trust me.  I was skeptical, but this tart is one that will feed a family and leave leftovers.

I’ll admit, I’m not a baker (though I’m striving to learn), so making the dough was a little bit of a challenge.  Especially because the ingredient increments were in ounces, and I don’t own a scale.  Oh man.  I was able to sort of estimate measuring out the ingredients and it turned out great, thank the lord.  I was actually thinking that we’d be ordering pizza for a little bit.  In any case, if you have the time and want to make something truly memorable, try this:

For the pastry crust (make this first):

1  3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup lard or shortening – cut into cubes
Leaves from one sprig of rosemary AND/OR a few sprigs of thyme – chopped
1 large egg – beaten
2 Tbsp. whole milk
1/3 cup shredded (not packed too tight) cheddar cheese
Big pinch of salt

This recipe really works best with a food processor (at least I think so…I don’t have a mixer) but you can probably have a mixer if you have one.  Start by adding the flour, cheese and lard with a big pinch of salt to the food processor and combine them for around 30 seconds.  The mixture should become sort of grainy, but still rather fine.

Add the herbs, egg and milk and mix together for another little while, just until the mixture comes together.  Once it looks good, dump out the mixture onto a lightly floured board and clump the dough together into a ball but don’t knead it!  Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Ingredients for the Filling:

~1/2 lb. black forest or other ham
6-8 slices of Prosciutto – thinly sliced
2 cups creme fraiche
3 eggs
Several sprigs of oregano – leaves picked, some chopped, others left whole
3 medium sized red onions – diced
1 medium bunch of kale – stems removed and finely chopped
3 medium cloves of garlic – finely chopped
1/3 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese – grated (reserve 1/2 of it for the topping!)
1/2 cup good Gruyere cheese – grated
Extra virgin olive oil
A small amount of butter for greasing sheet
Salt and pepper

While your dough is in the fridge, start the onions in a pan over medium heat and sweat them until they’ve turned translucent, but don’t let them color.  Add in the kale, in batches (there will be a lot to add) and cook down, mixing it together with the onions.  Next add the chopped oregano and garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Add in the wine and cook until 3/4 of the wine has cooked off.  Once this is done, kill the heat and set the mixture aside.

Next, you should grab your dough out of the fridge and also grab a baking sheet.  Roll out your dough to around 1/4″ thickness.  Patch the dough as necessary, but don’t let it rip at all.  Grease your baking sheet with your butter and carefully place the rolled out dough onto the sheet.  Go around the rim of the baking sheet with a fork or knife and remove any access.  Prick the dough all over with a fork and place it into the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

At this point, preheat your oven to 375 F.  Make the topping by mixing the creme fraiche, eggs and cheeses together in a mixing bowl.  Chop or rip the ham up to your desired size and set aside.

When you dough is ready, pull it out of the freezer and pop it right into the oven for 6-8 minutes or until it’s golden brown.  Remove it and you’re ready to build your tart.  I put the onion/kale mix on first, being sure to cover all of the tart shell.  Next, add the ham and prosciutto and top with the creme fraiche mixture.  Top with the reserved Parmesan cheese, the whole oregano leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.  Bake in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, or until the topping has turned golden brown.  Let cool for 10-15 minutes and cut as you like.  Enjoy!