Tarta de Espinaca

The Argentine spinach tart of the Italian immigration, baked between two discs of shop-bought pastry

Origin: Buenos Aires, Argentina

From the journey of Spinach.

South America is not spinach country, with one substantial exception, and the exception was carried there by ship. Between 1880 and 1930 Argentina received one of the largest immigrations in relation to its existing population that any country has ever absorbed, and roughly half of the arrivals were Italian. They brought their vegetables with them, and the Buenos Aires kitchen became, and remains, more Italian than Spanish: milanesa, fainá, ñoquis on the twenty-ninth of the month, and the whole family of tartas. Tarta de espinaca is the most made of them. Spinach is cooked down with onion and spring onion, bound with egg and cheese, and baked between two discs of pastry, and it appears at every family lunch, in every rotisería window, and cut cold into squares at every picnic. The pastry is a point of national character. Argentina sells tapas para tarta, ready-rolled pastry discs, in every supermarket, in hojaldre or criolla, and almost nobody makes their own. This is not laziness so much as the mark of a dish that has become genuinely everyday, and Argentine cooks will say so cheerfully. The spinach itself is the tell. Elsewhere in South America the everyday cooked green is chard, acelga, which is cheaper and hardier, and a great many Argentine households make the tart with chard and call it the same thing. That spinach holds its place at all in Buenos Aires is a direct inheritance from Liguria and the Veneto.

Ingredients

Pastry

2 discs ready-rolled shortcrust or puff pastry (tapas para tarta), 28 cm

Filling

1 kg spinach, washed
2 whole onions, finely chopped
4 whole spring onions, sliced
3 tbsp olive oil
4 whole eggs
150 g ricotta or cream cheese
100 g hard cheese (Reggianito or Parmesan), grated
0.5 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1.5 tsp salt, or to taste
0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper

To Finish

1 whole egg yolk, beaten with 1 tbsp milk, to glaze

Method

Wilt the spinach in a large dry pan over a medium heat for three to four minutes until fully collapsed, then drain in a colander and cool.
Squeeze the spinach very hard in handfuls, then again in a cloth, and chop it roughly.
Warm the olive oil and cook the onions over a medium-low heat for ten minutes until soft and translucent, then add the spring onions for a further two minutes. Cool.
Beat three of the eggs with the ricotta, the grated cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, then fold in the spinach and the cooled onions.
Line a 26 cm tart tin with one pastry disc, letting the edge overhang, and spoon in the filling, levelling the surface.
Make a hollow in the centre and crack the remaining whole egg into it.
Lay the second disc over the top, press the edges together, and roll or crimp the rim inwards to seal.
Cut two or three small slits in the lid and brush all over with the egg yolk glaze.
Bake at 190°C for 40 to 45 minutes until deep golden. Rest for at least fifteen minutes before cutting.

Notes

Ready-rolled pastry discs are what Argentines use and there is no snobbery about it. Any shortcrust or puff pastry works; hojaldre (puff) gives the richer version. A kilogram of spinach reduces to roughly 300 g once squeezed, which is what fills a 26 cm tin. Chard (acelga) is used interchangeably in a great many Argentine households and gives tarta de acelga, which is arguably the more common version. It is as good cold as hot and better on the second day, which is why it goes to every picnic and into every lunchbox. Serve with a simple tomato and onion salad, or as part of a spread with empanadas and fainá.

The Gastrographer

Name: Tarta de Espinaca
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Argentina
Ingredients: 2 discs ready-rolled shortcrust or puff pastry (tapas para tarta), 28 cm; 1 kg spinach, washed; 2 whole onions, finely chopped; 4 whole spring onions, sliced; 3 tbsp olive oil; 4 whole eggs; 150 g ricotta or cream cheese; 100 g hard cheese (Reggianito or Parmesan), grated; 0.5 tsp freshly grated nutmeg; 1.5 tsp salt, or to taste; 0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 1 whole egg yolk, beaten with 1 tbsp milk, to glaze

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control