Tourte Milanese

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Ingredients:
1 lb. puff pastry
10 large eggs
1 Tbs. chopped fresh chives
1 Tbs. chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tsp. snipped fresh tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbs. unsalted butter

Filling
6 large red bell peppers
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 lbs. spinach, trimmed and washed
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
3 Tbs. heavy cream
8 oz. Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
8 oz. smoked ham, thinly sliced
Egg wash: 1 large egg, beaten with 1 Tbs. water and pinch of salt

Preparation:
Generously butter an 8 1/2-inch spring form pan. Cut off one quarter of the pastry, cover, and set aside. Working on a lightly floured work surface, roll out the remaining puff pastry to a round that is 1/4 inch thick. Carefully fit the pastry into the pan, pressing against the pan to get a smooth fit, leaving a 1-inch overhang.

Roll out the smaller piece of pastry until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut out an 8-inch circle of dough for the top of the tourte and lift it onto a plate or baking sheet. Cover both the crust and the lid with plastic wrap and keep them both refrigerated while you prepare the filling. Save the scraps of puff pastry for other uses. Stack them, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate or freeze until needed.

Make a batch of seasoned scrambled eggs to seal the tourte. Whisk the eggs, herbs, salt and pepper together in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a large skillet over low heat and, when the bubbles subside, pour in the eggs. Gently but constantly stir the eggs around in the pan, pulling the eggs that set into the center of the pan and tilting the pan so that the liquid eggs run to the sides and cook – the eggs should be cooked slowly and scrambled loosely, as they will cook again in the tourte. Slide the eggs onto a plate, without mounding them, and cover immediately with plastic wrap. The eggs must cool before they can be used in the tourte.

Roast peppers whole and untrimmed directly over the flame of a gas burner or under the broiler. As soon as one portion of the pepper’s skin is charred, turn the pepper to char another section. When the peppers are black and blistered all over, drop them into a bowl of cool water. While the peppers are submerged, use your fingers to rub off the blackened skin. Rinse each pepper under running water and dry well. Cut each pepper once from top to bottom, cut away the stem, open up the peppers, and lay them flat. Trim away the inside veins and discard the seeds; season the peppers with salt and pepper and set them aside, covered, until needed.

Cook the spinach in a large quantity of boiling salted water for 1 minute, just to blanch it. Drain the spinach in a colander, rinse with cold water, and when it’s cool enough to handle, press it between your palms to extract all of the excess moisture.

Heat the oil, butter, and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the blanched spinach (if you ended up with a tight little ball of spinach after squeezing it dry, pull it apart with your fingers so that you have several pieces) and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and the nutmeg, and if you want, add a little heavy cream. Bring the cream quickly to the boil and stir so that it mixes with the spinach. Remove the spinach from the skillet with a slotted spoon or spatula and set aside.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Remove the pastry-lined spring form pan from the refrigerator and layer the filling ingredients in the following order: half the eggs, half the cheese, half the ham, and all the roasted red peppers, laid out flat, then continue layering  in reverse order – the remaining ham, cheese, spinach, and eggs. With each layer, make certain that the ingredients are spread to the edge of the pan.

Trim the bottom crust overhang to 1 inch. Fold the excess in over the filling and brush the rim of crust with the egg wash. Center the rolled out top crust over the tourte and gently push the edge of the top crust down into the pan, pressing and sealing the top and bottom crusts along the sides. Use your palm to pat the top of the tourte down and level the crust. Brush the top with the egg wash and cut a vent in the center of the crust. Use the point of the knife to etch a design in the top crust, taking care to cut only halfway into the dough. You can embellish the design by etching a series of diagonal lines within each portion.

Chill the fully loaded tourte for 30 to 60 minutes before baking. Place the tourte on a cookie sheet, give it another coat of egg wash, and bake it for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until wonderfully puffed and deeply golden. Remove from the oven and let the tourte rest on a rack until it is only just warm, or reaches room temperature. Run a blunt knife around the edges of the pan and release the sides.

History:
Baking with Julia, page 423.

 

The 4-hour lunch at the Guillmot’s in France, our most memorable meal.
These were the people that risked their lives to hide J D in their homes during WWII.