Phyllo Torte Stuffed with Chicken (or Ham), Ricotta and Swiss Chard - Nerds with Knives (2024)

January 18, 2021April 17, 2017 by Emily

This Phyllo Torte with Chicken (or Ham), Ricotta and Swiss Chard has a crispy, flaky, buttery crust filled with all our favorite Spring flavors. It looks like a showstopper, but it’s easy as pie.

We’ve been havingtopsy-turvy weather here in the Hudson Valley overthe last couple of months. We had an lateWinter blizzard that dropped almost 3 feet (!) of snow on us, followed by a week in the 70s, followed by a month of cold dreariness, and then yesterday it got up to 89ºF. Even our poor little chickens are like “WTF, people?” (You haven’t seen side-eye until you’ve seen chicken side-eye. They are not shy about squawkingtheir displeasure right into your face).

But thankfully things have settled down, our girls are laying again and we’re coveringour new deckin a million herb and flower pots. Nothing makes me happier than Spring plantings coming up, and I have very high hopes for our garden this year.

So with all this Spring in the air, I figured it was time to try out the Spring-centric Melissa Clarkrecipe I’ve been thinking about since I saw it in the New York Times last year.

I have to tell you, this thing is genius.

If you’ve ever made Spanakopita or Baklava, you know how challenging working with phyllo dough can be. It’s not hard, it’s just a lot of work to brush butter over each paper thin layer of dough before adding the next one. Then repeat, repeat, repeat.

The genius of this Phyllo Torteis that the butter is added almost entirely at the end -though one of the adaptationsI made to the original recipe is to drizzle a littlebutter over the dough every so oftenas you layer it in the pan (but you can be as haphazard and imprecise as you like in this process). This ensures that the bottom layers get their share of butter so they turn evenly crisp, brown and shiny.

For the filling, I wanted to make itsubstantial enough to bea main dish but light enough for a warm afternoonbrunch. It’s kind of a mix of a Greek Spinach and Feta Pieand a savory cheesecake.

I originally wantedto useramps (the light of my life) in this but, alas, they’re not quite available yet. Nor was my other Spring favorite, green garlic. (If you canget your pawson either of these, by all means use them). Or go with theshallots, garlic and scallions we use in the recipe. The combination is deliciousand, along with fresh dill, gives the filling so much flavor.The shallots and garlic and Swiss chard get lightlysautéed, to soften them and release their flavors before they get added to the cheeses.

Along with the ricotta, weadded feta cheese for that salty bite, and cubed mozzarella, which melts beautifully. We also added a bit ofshredded chicken (this is great place to use leftover Easter ham or a rotisserie bird) and cubed ham would be a great option.Note that you can absolutely leave the meat out without muchloss of flavor, for a vegetarian version.

One note about the phyllo dough: when I watched Melissa Clark’s video, I realized the dough she was using was twice aslarge as the dough I purchased. One sheet of hers fit over the entire Bundt pan, whereas ours only covered half. No size was listed in her originalrecipe, nor was it printed on the box I bought, so I only discovered the difference once I was already in the middle of cooking.

I’ve since discoveredthat phyllo comes in either 14 x 9 inch or 14 x 18 inch sheets. Sowhat we did with the smaller size was lay the sheets offset from the center, to allow the couple of inches of overhang needed to cover the pan once it’s all filled. We stacked the phyllo two sheets at a time, going off center and working our way around,so there is an even layer of dough all aroundthe pan (watch Melissa’s video if you want to see the process).

We also liberally buttered the pan itself (a little butter can pool on the bottom, that’s fine) and every couple oflayers, we drizzled a tablespoon or so ofbutter onthe dough. No need to brush it on or be precise. Most of the butter will go on top, so make sure you poke holes with a sharp knife, all the way through to the bottom. You don’t need to be too scientific about it, provided that your dough layers end up reasonably even.

We sliced this and had it straight away for dinner with a side salad, but you can let it fully cool (it should be refrigerated if kept overnight). Matt liked it cold as a lunch but I liked it better reheated, so the phyllo re-crisps. To reheat a slice, put in a 325ºF oven for about 10-15 minutes until warmed through.