Chef John made this now-famous brunch pie during a three-month hiatus from teaching (you might also notice a heavy dose of Scandinavian pastry recipes soon as a result of his sabbatical). The olive oil crust needs only a 30 minute rest, giving you the perfect timing to make the fillings and preheat the oven.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato for Filling
1Medium yellow or white flesh sweet potatocut into 1/2" dice
2TbspOlive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil crust
1 1/4cupAll purpose flour
1 1/4cupWhole wheat flour
1/3cupExtra virgin olive oil
1/2cupCold water
3/4tspCoarse salt
Pie filling
1/4cupExtra virgin olive oil
1Medium red onioncut into small dice
4Garlic clovesroughly chopped
1tspGround cumin
1tspGround coriander
1Large bunch Swiss chard
3/4tspRed pepper flakes
Salt and pepper To taste
1/2cupGrated Parmigiano
1/2cupPine nutstoasted in a skillet over medium heat
1-1/2tspWhite vinegar
Garnish 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp watercoarse salt and/or Nigella seeds
Instructions
Sweet Potato for Filling
Preheat oven to 375°
Toss diced sweet potato with 2 tablespoon olive oil and teaspoon salt. Place on baking sheet covered with parchment. Roast about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft and brown on edges. Remove from oven and cool.
Olive oil crust
In a bowl, combine all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flour, extra-virgin olive oil, cold water, and coarse salt. Stir with a fork to combine, then turn out onto a work surface and knead 1 minute or until dough just begins to come together into smooth mass. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Pie filling
Remove chard leaves from stems. Slice stems about ¼” on a diagonal. Stack leaves and cut into 1” strips.
In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Add cumin and coriander to hot oil. Add chopped chard stems and red-pepper flakes; cook until stems begin to soften, about 2 minutes.
Add chard leaves; the leaves should be damp from washing, (this helps the chard cook). Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until chard leaves wilt. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until chard is soft and the liquid has reduced. Mixture should be fairly dry. Place chard mixture in a large bowl and toss with Parmesan, roasted sweet potato, toasted pine nuts, white wine vinegar. Taste and season with salt and pepper and allow to cool.
Divide the dough into 2 pieces, one piece slightly larger than the other, about 2/3 and 1/3 of original ball. Roll the larger piece into about a 12 1/2-inch round; fit into an 8-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Fill bottom crust with cooled chard mixture. Roll remaining dough to a 9 1/2-inch round; place over filling. Pinch edges of dough together and tuck in to seal; cut several vents into center of pie. Combine egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush over dough. Sprinkle with black salt or nigella seeds.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Bake pie until crust is deep golden brown, about 1 1/2 hours. Serve warm or at room temperature.