This Beet Greens Tart will become one of your favorite dishes once you try it! Beet greens are delicious in smoothies, quickly stir fried in olive oil with a few garlic cloves and sea salt, and numerous other recipes. I was looking for a new recipe using beet greens and I think I’ve found it!

In a recent shopping trip to one of our favorite specialty shops, I came across Turkish pastry leaves, also called phyllo dough which I use occasionally. On a trip to Turkey a few years ago, we came across a myriad of dishes made with phyllo dough, including baklava – a dessert familiar to many of us. I have used pastry sheets before to make desserts, but this time I wanted a savory dish, hence the creation of this tart.  I suppose you can also use puff pas

Once you open the packet, you have to handle phyllo dough carefully since the leaves are fragile and break easily. Phyllo dough gets brittle when left out in the open so be sure to cover them with a damp kitchen towel or paper towels to keep them soft and pliable. There were two large round sheets in the packet so I used the dining room table to spread them out. You will need to spread the leaves on a large piece of plastic and, luckily, I had a plastic tablecloth which I got from the dollar store. The sheets are wrapped in an interesting way. They are circular, as mentioned above, and a quarter of the dough on each side is brought in towards the middle so it looks like a rectangle. I wanted only the middle piece so I removed the two sides and trimmed the rest to make to even rectangle pieces.  You will need 6 layers to make this tart. Here’s the recipe:

Preparation:

We just need the leaves from the beets for this recipe so save the beets for cooking or smoothies. Remove the leaves from the beets and wash well under running water. Cut up finely and sauté in a bit of olive oil with sliced Vidalia onions, garlic, sea salt and freshly ground pepper for about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Prepare the Filling

Mix the ingredients and set aside.

Prepare the Tarts

You will need  to combine 2 sheets to make one layer because they are thin,  and 3 layers for the filling. The bottom and middle layers will have the cheese mixture and beet greens; the top layer will just have the cheese mixture.

1. Place silicone mat or foil on your baking tray.
2. Take one sheet of phyllo dough and place it on the baking tray. Brush it lightly with some melted butter. Add the second layer on top.
3. Spread a thin layer of the cheese mixture  and beet greens on the first layer.
4. Take the second double layer of phyllo dough (don’t forget to brush one layer with melted butter) and lay it on a cutting board or work space close to the baking tray. Spread only the cheese mixture evenly and then lift it carefully and place it on top of the first layer.  Do not put this second layer of dough directly on the first layer and try to spread the mixture on it. The mixture on the first layer will seep out around the edges and you can easily tear the second layer trying to spread the mixture on it. So prepare the second sheet on the cutting board and then gently lift (use a spatula if necessary) it and place it on the first layer.
5. Once you get the second layer in place over the first layer on the baking tray, gently spread all of the beet greens evenly and in the corners.
6. Lay the last double layer on the cutting board and spread the cheese mixture evenly, then lift and place on top of the second layer.
7. Grate a thin layer of cheddar cheese on the top of the cheese mixture to get a nice crust.
8. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes until brown on the top.

Serve the Tarts

I served the tarts for brunch and dinner with a green salad.  As you can see from the photos below, I had it several times during the week with different salads.