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Sausage and Kale Dinner Tart

by:
March 11, 2011
4.4
9 Ratings
  • Prep time 45 minutes
  • Cook time 50 minutes
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

This is the single most soul satisfying tart I have ever made. Sausage and kale both are iconic winter fare. They dominate this tart with only minor distractions from sauteed onion, garlic, and the slightest addition of ricotta cheese. Served atop the flaky butter crust, this is a winter meal to celebrate. - My Pantry Shelf —My Pantry Shelf

Test Kitchen Notes

Here's how you impress dinner guests without chipping away at your bank account. My Pantry Shelf's tart coaxes luxury out of spare ingredients and bends readily to adaptation, depending on what looks good at the market and what you have on hand. A flaky pastry base and judicious amounts of ricotta, white wine, and fresh basil go a long way in dressing up the rustic kale and sausage filling. With this beauty, you've got yourself a dinner party -- all that's left is a big green salad and plenty of wine. - A&M —The Editors

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Sausage and Kale Dinner Tart
Ingredients
  • Tart Shell
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 3 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed
  • Sausage and Kale Filling
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups onion, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 pound Italian sausage
  • 1 bunch kale (a large bunch), stemmed and roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, cut into thin strips
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup ricotta (or another soft cheese like feta or goat cheese)
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper, plus more to taste
Directions
  1. Tart Shell
  2. Cut the butter into small cubes.
  3. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until butter is pea-sized.
  4. Slowly drizzle water through the top of the food processor while pulsing. You have added enough water when dough sticks together when pressed.
  5. Remove dough from processor and press gently into a disc.
  6. Wrap disc in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
  7. Remove dough from refrigerator and unwrap.
  8. Place disc on a lightly floured board.
  9. Roll dough into a circle 12 inches in diameter.
  10. Place dough in 10 inch tart pan with removable bottom.
  11. Dock dough with a fork.
  12. Lay parchment paper or foil over dough and fill with beans or pie weights.
  13. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  14. Blind bake the tart shell (with pie weights) for 20 minutes. Then remove parchment and weights and bake an additional 5 minutes until the crust begins to brown.
  15. Remove from oven and set aside on cooling rack.
  1. Sausage and Kale Filling
  2. Heat oil and butter in pan on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until onions are soft and light brown. Season with salt and pepper. Remove onions from pan and set aside.
  3. Increase heat to medium and add sausage to pan. Brown sausage and break into small pieces. Remove sausage from pan and set aside. Drain all but 1 Tablespoon of oil from pan.
  4. Add kale to pan. Pour white wine over kale. Scrape any bits from the pan and cover. Cook 3-5 minutes, until kale is wilted. Season with salt and pepper. If kale is still very wet, cook uncovered for a minute or two. The overall mixture should be fairly dry. Remove kale to a large bowl.
  5. Toss cooked kale with cooked sausage and onions. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Toss mixture with basil, egg, and ricotta. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Spoon sausage and kale mixture into cooked tart shell. Be sure to evenly cover the bottom of the tart shell. Bake the tart on a baking tray for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove tart from oven when the filling is set and the tart shell is nicely brown. Cool tart slightly on a wire rack. Slice and serve with a big green salad.
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See what other Food52ers are saying.
The bounty of each season is worth celebrating! Most of the meals I cook for my hungry family of four are based on whatever is fresh and bountiful in our yard or what we can glean from the yards of our friends and neighbors. The seasonal food we have in surplus goes into the canning jars. Even busy families can find time for fresh, homemade foods.

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165 Reviews

Write a Review
Sandra13 December 9, 2022
I'm just curious to know why some of your quiche recipes say to pre-bake the pie shell for quite a long time (like this one) and some say to pour the mixture right in the raw pie pastry with no pre-baking instructions (e.g., =Leek, Lemon, Feta Quiche).
marthamsmith November 7, 2022
Good, but a fair amount of work. I made two tarts using Italian "sweet" sausage but using feta in one and ricotta on the other. The feta was much preferred in my home as the ricotta was too bland.
Jenny A. December 12, 2021
This turned out beautifully on the first attempt, and I started it at 5pm ... a little hesitant about the time crunch of making, resting and pre-baking a pie crust, but dinner was done before 7pm. However ... i read these reviews and opted to add not one, not two but THREE eggs in there. I think anything less, and it would have been crumbly. Instead, it was beautiful, with just a hint of egg throughout. I will say, I used a 12-inch, not a 9-inch pie dish. Boyfriend loved it and we threw a ton of chili flakes on it, with feta rather than ricotta. Would absolutely make again
Staceydeewoods November 4, 2020
I’m dying to make this but I only have a glass pie pan. Has anyone made it like this? Will it still work?
Jenny A. December 12, 2021
I used an Emile Henry thick pie dish. Was beautiful result. I did spray it before pre-baking the crust. Nothing stuck. was fabulous
Kevin August 11, 2020
Outstanding! Added a splash of milk to the mix and a handful of cherry tomatoes.
Darian October 19, 2019
So, I'm not sure how relevant my review will be, with the modifications I made - but here goes! I actually used the crust recipe from this other food52 recipe: https://food52.com/recipes/32092-bacon-and-leek-tart but within that I used aged provolone instead of parmesan, and omitted the salt (per my and others' previous reviews of that crust). For the filling, I used spinach instead of kale and threw in some of the aged provolone that I used in the crust. I was probably a little heavy on the ricotta as I didn't measure it. Overall it turned out really well! I served it with a green salad for a fairly quick and easy dinner.
Mary R. March 17, 2019
Can I substitute spinach for kale? Not a fan of kale and don’t eat other greens...
Manhattan T. March 19, 2019
Yep. I'd just be sure to wilt the spinach until it's fairly dry.
Mary R. March 19, 2019
Thank you :)
jlriddell December 16, 2018
I would agree that the filling was a little dry. I would simply add a bit of egg white to it next time to make it stick together a little bit more. No issues with the dough which turned out perfectly. I would just say it was a little more plentiful than I needed for my tart pan.
lbarlow May 27, 2018
Tasted delicious but the crush was a nightmare.
AudreyXuan January 5, 2018
Although this turned out fairly well, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. The flavours were fine, but the filling didn't hold together at all--it ended up more like a dry casserole with a pie pastry topping. 6.5/10.
Sydney December 23, 2017
Do you think this would travel 3.5 hours in the car well? Over ice Packs??Then pop in oven at destination? Thanks!
Yayita March 22, 2017
Food52 Sausage and Kale Dinner Tart by My Pantry Shelf
Rating of 3.5 out of 5
This was the star of my dinner table; however, I did have to modify it a bit based on the other comments I read.
1. I followed the Tart shell portion of the recipe as written but unfortunately my dough was slightly dry as it didn't easily press into a disc per the instructions. Thinking that maybe I was overreacting and that it would be fine after it was chilled, I went ahead and chilled without adding more water. When I brought the chilled frozen dough out I couldn't roll it at all as it was dry, crumbly and falling apart so I cautiously decided to add about 1/4 cup of vodka. From another Food52 recipe I knew that a trick to adding more water was using some vodka instead in an effort to help you wet the dough while not toughening it in the process. I added 1/4 cup of cold vodka as a Hail Mary since I needed to serve that Tart for a dinner party. This helped me wet the dough enough for it to be rolled per the instructions.
2. In addition to adding the eggs and ricotta, I also used ~3 tablespoons of créeme Fraiche so that the mixture wasn't too dry. Other people had noted that it was a bit dry and when I saw my mixture after mixing the egg and ricotta in, I realized what they meant.
3. To add a bit of sharpness to it I broiled that Tart with ~1/2 cup of white sharp cheddar cheese 2 mins before it was done baking. This nicely complemented the rest of the tart flavor wise and also helped it atheistically as the mixture on its own rested in an uneven way in the tart shell and did not appear as if it would nicely level off as it cooked since it was a bit in the dry side. As the cheese melted under the broiler, it nicely filled in the small valleys of the mixture.
Overall, I was pleased with the results. I will definitely be making it again and it lends itself to different interpretations and a good candidate for a clean-out-the-fridge tart.
Linda July 27, 2016
Delicious. I added a cup of mushrooms. And only 1 cup of obion. Not an onion fan. We're growing kale this year, so looking for good recipes. Thank you.
Idalu November 30, 2015
Delicious though a little dry. Next time i will add a bit of heavy cream to the sausage/kale mix. A keeper.
Tanya M. November 9, 2015
I was wondering about making this recipe ahead as well. If so, at which step would one stop in the advance prep? For example, would you make the filling and crust and keep them separate, and then when ready to serve, add filling to the crust before baking? Or, could you bake it all ahead and then simple reheat?
E-Lo November 4, 2015
can you make the filling a day (or two or three) ahead and proceed with step 5 at a later date? Thanks !
Shaina June 4, 2015
Absolutely delicious! I made a vegetarian version of this and subbed the sausage for mushrooms, then added artichokes & sun-dried tomatoes to the mix to make it more filling- amazing! Heavily seasoned with sea salt, pepper, garlic, and a touch of cayenne and it's perfect. Hubs- who is a meat eater- loved it!
chocolat October 30, 2017
How is this the same recipe? What are you trying to prove, honestly?
Tara C. April 20, 2015
Question: Don't have a pie dish w/ removable bottom, so just wondering if anyone has just used a normal pie plate and if so do I still need to blind bake or do you think I could just put dough in dish, cover with filling, then bake?
Sarahlmorford April 21, 2015
I would definitely still do the blind bake - I don't think you'll have an issue with using a pie plate but I would line it really well with buttered parchment so you can get it out. If you're not "serving it" on a platter or cake stand, it will be no worries since you'll be able to easily get slices out.
Linda July 27, 2016
That's how I made mine and I did blind bake it. Turned out great.
NotTooSweet March 15, 2015
Running out of ways to say delicious about the recipes on this site, but this was truly delicious! Followed Manhattan Tart's pastry tip, but also held back about a dime's worth of dough to fill in cracks after it blind-baked. Very easy, no rolling and a great crust. Used feta (since I had it), spicy sausage and the rest just as the recipe suggests - it was fantastic!
MJ March 10, 2015
Hello. I've never made scallops (I know, shame on me) but can someone please give me their best and tastiest recipe PLEASE. Thanks so much.