pine nuts

Not long after her birthday, The Child gets sick – so sick, she has to back out of the school play, missing everything but the final performance, and then leaving before the cast party. When she recovers, we spend our evenings going over all her class assignments.

Did this get turned into math? Where are you on your science project? These are the questions I ask that fill her evenings.

It quickly becomes clear that she’s not just catching up on work she missed when she was sick, but perhaps a little bit from before she got sick … perhaps, quite a bit from then. I try to help her organize, and get back on track, but things keep popping up. She has to create a book cover for history class, she remembered. Oh! And also, she has to bring in food for class. In two days.

She’s pleased she remembered so far ahead of time. Roman food, she says. It’s for history class.

I wonder if this is my assignment or hers, but decide that her part of the assignment is probably complete now: she remembered to tell me before we got in the car to drive to school the day it was needed. I scan through my shelf and find two Italian cookbooks, my beloved Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, and another one, De Medici Kitchen, by Lorenza de Medici, now out of print, and which I bought for fifty cents at a thrift shop not long ago. (You can get used copies for not much on Amazon).

I start by looking for a recipe that says it’s Roman, but nothing pops out – at least, nothing that is suitable for a middle school history class toga party. So I fudge it a little, and settle instead on a simple Tuscan recipe that I think the kids will like, and which doesn’t involve refrigeration, unusual ingredients, or a trip to the store.

The Pinolata cake from De Medici Kitchen is incredibly simple – just a butter cake accented with pine nuts. I was surprised when I mixed all the ingredients and realized the recipe included no vanilla, cinnamon, or nutmeg. Just butter, flour, sugar – and not very much sugar at that. The resulting cake is a bit dry and very buttery tasting: The perfect thing to serve alongside a cup of coffee or tea, or to accompany fresh fruit.

I liked it so much that I hated to send it off to school for the kids, but send it I did. It’s simple enough to make any time I want more.

Pinolata (Pine Nut Cake)

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

1 hour

Author: Lorenza de Medici

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
3 eggs
½ cup pine nuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
In another bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Then add the flour mixture. The dough should be quite soft.
Butter a loaf pan and dust with flour. Pour the dough into the pan and sprinkle with the pine nuts. Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry.
Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack before serving.

Notes

Another blogger who tried this recipe suggests mixing the pine nuts into the dough. I pressed them into the top, but found quite a few fell off and many got a rather brown, so if this is a problem, then mixing them in would be a nice solution.

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My friend Anne and I have, for years, co-hosted Christmas and Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving at my house, Christmas at hers. All are welcome, and everyone brings something, but the cast of characters changes each year. Every year Anne, a vegetarian, gamely bakes a Christmas ham; I usually luck out and go home with a week’s supply of ham or even a nice bone for soup – because what is she going to do with the leftovers?

This year, the guests were – all of them – passionate cooks – so everyone brought their assigned dish (salad, bread) and then whatever they thought would make a nice addition to the meal … plus a dessert.

There was one dessert per adult – and I don’t mean one slice of pie, I mean one full pie. It was a breathtaking display.

My diet started when the leftovers ran out, but it was so good that I have no regrets.

It has always struck me as rather unfair that the star of the meal – the ham – can’t be eaten by the hostess, and not only that, she’s so busy with everything that she can’t really make something special that she can eat. So I try to make it up to her by making some special side dish – one that could take center stage.

This year, I succeeded. I found this recipe for Chard, Raisin, and Pine Nut Tart when I was hunting for my lost caramels recipe, and when I read it, could not understand why I hadn’t made it before. The most difficult part – the crust – you can easily cheat by using a store bought; I used a frozen sheet puff-pastry and it was wonderful and flaky.

The filling is a superb, moist mix of savory chard and plump, sweet raisins, with the pine nuts adding a nice texture. It all plays nicely against the flaky crust.

The recipe originates in France, where it sometimes served as a dessert, dusted with powdered sugar. I don’t see it as being a great dessert, but it doesn’t need to be a side dish – with a side of spinach salad, it would make a fabulous alternative to quiche for a light lunch. In fact, it did make a nice lunch the day after Christmas.

One final note: the raisins are plumped with water, and but soaking them in wine or perhaps some cointreau could add another level of flavor and sophistication to the tart.

Chard, Raisin, and Pine Nut Tart

This tart originates in the south of France, where it is often served for dessert dusted with powdered sugar. It makes an excellent main course or side dish.

Author: adapted from Gourmet, via epicurious

Serves: 8

Ingredients

½ cup golden raisins
1 cup water
1½ pounds chard, stems and center ribs discarded
1 large egg
½ cup heavy cream
1½ tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
⅓ cup pine nuts
Pastry dough for a double-crust pie

Instructions

Bring raisins and water to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour. Drain in a colander, then pat dry with paper towels.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
Blanch chard in a large pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender but still bright green, about 5 minutes. Transfer chard with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking. Drain chard in a colander, then squeeze out excess water by handfuls. Coarsely chop chard.
Whisk together egg, cream, granulated sugar, zest, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Stir in pine nuts, raisins, and chard until combined.
Roll out larger piece of dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin and fit into 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (do not trim edges). Chill shell while rolling out top.
Roll out smaller piece of dough on a lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin. Spread chard filling evenly into shell, then top with second rectangle of dough. Using a rolling pin, roll over edges of pan to seal tart and trim edges, discarding scraps. Cut 3 steam vents in top crust with a paring knife, then put tart in pan on a baking sheet. Bake until top is golden, about 1 hour. Transfer to a rack and cool 10 minutes, then remove side of pan. Cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Notes

As always, some notes: The original recipe calls for two pounds of chard, but since I used a smaller pan than it called for, I cut back the chard, putting the raisins and pine nuts more center stage. This results in a slightly sweeter center. I also did not use pie crust, but instead a flaky pastry crust.

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This is my contribution to Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Why not swing by and see what other savory surprises await?

Pinolata (Pine Nut Cake)

Chard, Raisin, and Pine Nut Tart

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