Pastel de Acelga — Peruvian Swiss Chard Pie
A Peruvian-style Swiss chard pie with homemade buttery crust, creamy bechamel and chard filling, whole hard-boiled eggs baked inside, and two cheeses. From my grandmother's cookbook, tweaked by a Peruvian chef in the US.
Servings 6 people
Equipment
- 9 Inch pie pan
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 1/4 cups of Ap - Flour just regular flour
- 3 tsps of Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp of Salt
- 100 gr Unsalted Butter at room temperature
- 2 Egg yolks at room temperature
- 2 - 5 tbsp of Cold water
Egg Wash
- 1 Yolk beaten
Pie Filling
- 6 cups Spinach
- 8 cups Swiss Chard leaves
- 2 tablespoons of Butter at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons of Flour
- 2 cups of Evaporated Milk
- 1/2 cup of Shredded Mozzarella
- 1/4 cup of Shredded Parmesan
- 1 Red Onion diced
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced
- Salt and Pepper
- 3 Hard boiled Eggs cut into 4's
Instructions
Crust
- Sift all the dry ingredients, then integrate butter and flour with the help of a fork (you should end with something that looks like oats), add a yolk at the time, integrate them. finish with two tablespoons of water or more (if needed), just integrate do not over knead, shape the dough like a ball, wrap it on plastic and let it rest on a fridge for at least 30 min.
Filling
- In a pot with boiling water blanch your Spinach and Chard for 30 seconds after that, strain them, chop them, and then reserve.
- In a different Pot add butter and cook onions, garlic then add flour, let it cook for 2 minutes, stir your ingredients all the time then add milk, the two cheese, spinach, chard, salt, and pepper, let it cook for 3 min or until the juices are reduced, turn off the heat and let it rest.
- cut in half your dough, then roll it and put half on an oiled casserole or pie pan. Then add the filling, put the cooked eggs on top and cover with the other half of the dough, make some cuts on the top and bake at 325 F/ 160 C for 15 min. Then egg washes your dough and let it cook for another 5 min or until golden.
Notes
- Blanching is a cooking term, consist of submerging "raw" ingredients into a boiling liquid for a very short period of time, is like pre-cooking.
- Blanching your Spinach and Swiss Chard will make them more "green" and soft.
- On squeezing the chard: This is the most important step in the recipe. Swiss chard releases a significant amount of water when cooked. If you don't squeeze it thoroughly, that water goes into the filling and then into your crust. A soggy bottom crust is almost always caused by insufficient squeezing. Use a clean kitchen towel, wrap the chard in it, and twist firmly over the sink until no more water comes out.
- On the bechamel thickness: The filling should be thick enough to hold its shape when spooned — not runny. If your bechamel seems too thin after adding the chard, return to medium-low heat and stir constantly until it thickens. A loose filling will overflow when you add the top crust.
- On the hard-boiled eggs: Cook them in boiling water for exactly 10 minutes, then transfer to an ice bath immediately. This gives you fully set yolks with no grey ring around them. Halve them just before assembling so they don't dry out.
- On resting before slicing: 15 minutes minimum. The filling needs time to set after coming out of the oven. If you slice immediately the filling will run and you'll lose that clean cross-section look. If you're making this for a potluck, make it the night before and reheat — it actually slices better cold.
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