This time of year can be a tricky one for inspired breakfasts. Oatmeal is my go-to on weekdays, and on the weekends we often flail for something a bit more interesting but no more complex. With this morning tart, flail no more!
I call this a morning tart instead of a quiche because I tend to think of quiche as more major, perhaps even towering. Quite the opposite, this tart is more elegant and shapely — made in my 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, it's pretty enough to serve at a brunch with friends or all alone on a Sunday morning. You choose.
The reason I love this morning tart is that the preparation and ingredient list are simple. My cornmeal crust is a no-roll dough which makes me particularly happy when it comes to morning recipes, and it has a subtle and most likeable crunch from the last-minute addition of millet. If you're not familiar with millet, it's a wonderful grain that should be relatively easy to find in the bulk bins of a well-stocked grocery store. It's packed with nutrients and fiber, and it has a mild corn flavor and wonderful crunchy texture that works perfectly in a savory crust.
I chose kale for my winter green here, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand or can find easily at the market. I think mustard greens or mizuna would be really wonderful here as well and would impart a bit of their characteristic spiciness.
Maybe the nicest thing about this tart, though, is its versatility. Not a kale fan? Substitue mushrooms instead. Hate the forward nuttiness of Gruyere? Parmesan would also be great. Need a bit more protein? How about folding in a few chunks of smoked salmon or pulled chicken or tofu? The options are endless. Make it your own, and this recipe will become your new back-pocket brunch recipe for 2013. It has, indeed, become mine.

Winter Greens & Gruyere Tart with Cornmeal-Millet Crust
Serves 6 to 8For the crust:
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
3/4 cup white-whole-wheat flour (or all whole-wheat flour)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼ - inch cubes, plus more for pan
3-4 tablespoons ice water
1/4 cup raw millet
For the filling:
1/2 pound winter greens (like kale/mustard greens) - about 1 medium bunch, ribs and stems removed and torn into large pieces
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup minced shallots (about 3 shallots)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup crème fraîche (or full-fat sour cream)
1/2 cup grated Gruyere (about 2 ounces)
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons thyme
Generous pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Prepare the Crust:
Butter a 9 x 1 inch tart pan with a removable bottom (can also use a 10-inch if that's what you have). Using a food processor, pulse together the cornmeal, flour and salt. Add the cubes of butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal (alternatively, you can use a pastry blender or your fingertips to work the butter into the dry ingredients). Add ice water and pulse until the dough starts to look like wet sand. Test to see if it's done by gently squeezing a small piece between your fingers: you're looking for it to hold together and not crumble away. If it seems too crumbly, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Turn the dough out into a large bowl and mix in the millet using a fork — you want to work quickly here so as not to "cream" or stir the dough too much. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour and up to one day.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the prepared crust on a small baking sheet for easy transport to and from the oven. Bake the crust for 15 minutes to slightly dry out the top so that it won't get soggy when you add the wet quiche mixture.
Prepare the Filling:
Bring a large post of salted water to a boil and add the greens. Cook until just softened, about 2-3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon and transfer the greens to a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Remove from the cool water and, using your hands, squeeze as much water from them as possible and lay the greens out on good work surface. They tends to clump into balls when squeezed, so spend a few moments separating it and "declumping" the greens.
In a small sauté pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil and sauté the shallots until translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add in the garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, crème fraîche, Gruyere, eggs, herbs, salt and pepper.
Set the tart pan with prepared crust onto a baking sheet for easy transport. Spoon the shallot mixture on top of the prepared crust, followed by the cooked greens (arrange them evenly). Pour the custard mixture on top of the whole thing. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling is completely set. Let cool for 15-20 minutes, unmold the tart and serve warm or room temperature.
Related: How to Make a Foolproof Quiche
(Images: Megan Gordon)
Kart Serving Tray b...

Comments (32)
This looks so warm and nourishing, almost like serving up breakfast love on cold winter mornings. The recipe, the photos and your delicious writing are like sunshine in January ~ unique, clear, and uplifting.
Thank you,
Laura @ food-alovestory.com
I don't own a tart pan. What could I use instead?
Is the millet absolutely necessary for the integrity of the dough? I don't have any in my pantry, but do have everything else. Would love to try this tonight for dinner!
This does look delicious, and I love the crunch of millet in baked goods,so I will certainly give it a try, but despite the press in dough, it still looks a lot more complicated to make than oatmeal or even pancakes, yeasted waffles (love making the batter the night before and letting it sit out overnight), or eggs and toast.
Oh, you've just given me two great ideas--1) What to do with my ceramic IKEA tart dish, currently gathering dust and 2) A better crust for my spinach pie recipe.
Here's what I've been doing for spinach pie:
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed until pretty dry.
A hefty handful of freshly ground Christmas spices (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, 5-spice, whatever)
A truly frightening amount of grated Jarlsberg cheese (OK, a cup or so)
One or two eggs to bind it all together.
Mixed, dumped, and packed hard into a standard 9-inch purchased pie crust in foil tin.
Baked at 350 until the crust is nicely browned and the cheese melty.
A delicious cornmeal/millet crust and a pretty scalloped tart pan edge is going to make that a whole other level of awesome!
@Sassy 30: Nope, millet is just a wonderful afterthought. Dough is fine without it.
@mimi2856: Well, the trouble is that the tart pan is 1-inch high, so a pie pan is really too tall. I'd say that tart pans are inexpensive ($10 on amazon) or easy to find at many Goodwills. So that'd be my first answer although I hate asking people to buy a piece of equipment to complete a recipe. Second, you could certainly try a pie pan although I think it's going to be tough to cut/won't be as pretty to serve although it will still taste good!
Is the millet cooked or raw? Sounds hearty and if y'all haven't tried Cindy Crawfords pie crust made from oil, instead of butter, you must try!!!! It is so flaky and delicious!!! Just google her name and rhubarb pie/crust. :)
@red river apron pockets: Great question. It's raw! I'll make sure that's clear in the notes. Thanks so much.
@Sassy30: Oops, I commented to the whole thread before, and wanted to make sure you saw this ...
Nope, millet is just a wonderful afterthought. Dough is fine without it.
Is this a dough that could be make a day ahead of time and then left in the fridge?
oops, didn't fully read the instructions!
I agree with another poster that this seems like a lot of steps. Would it be ok to saute the greens with the shallots?
Any idea on what I can use instead of white-whole-wheat flour. Glutten Free version?
@limes Sure, give it a go. I like cooking them separately personally and find that blanching the greens really cooks them perfectly to fit into the quiche itself, but it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to sautee them if you'd prefer.
@Judith Workman Great question, Judith! Absolutely. You can use whole-wheat flour or all-purpose if you'd like (I just prefer white-whole wheat in many baking recipes). I'm not as familiar with gluten-free flours to be quite honest, so I can't speak to that. But if you have a general, all-purpose gluten-free flour mix that you often substitue out for all-purpose in recipes, I can't imagine why that wouldn't work. Enjoy!
Is spinach an ok sub for kale? I live kale but its not (yet) common where I live.
*love kale. Not live.
Looks delicious! I will have to make some non-dairy substitutes here, but I think it will work nonetheless.
@visualizestacy: Sure thing! Any winter greens -- spinach will likely cook up a bit quicker so just be aware of that.
This is wonderful. My little boy though has a dairy allergy - do you have any ideas what I can substitute instead of cheese and creme fraiche - or perhaps suggest a filling that does not include these? (Almond milk works well instead of milk...)
Thank you!!
Gorgeous my friend! I am a huge tart and quiche fan, but never think of making simply for the two of us. That is about to change. Thank you for the inspiration!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I used sour cream because that's what I had, and I also don't own a tart pan and used a 10"x2" cake pan (that I greased really, really well with butter) and did 1.5 x the recipe for the crust to make sure I had enough to fill the pan and press the sides up. I served it right from the pan after letting it cool with a pie server and the slices plated perfectly, it just didn't have the pretty tart edges and couldn't be taken out of the cake pan if you wanted to put it on something else. Also, because I made this for dinner, I added mushrooms on top of the kale to make it a little more hearty. I thought about adding smoked bacon too, but didn't have it - although I definitely want to try it again with it! Thanks for the recipe, I love kale and was so happy to see this!
@Meredith Lee: Awesome, Meredith! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe, and your tweaks sound delicious!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was perfect. Even looked as pretty as the picture! I made a few minor changes--omitted millet (just don't like it) and used 1 cup of whole wheat flour instead of 3/4. Used 2 kinds of kale, chard, collards and spinach--all just picked from my garden. Taking what's left on a picnic tomorrow. Thanks so much for the great recipe. P.S. Used the back of a measuring cup to press in the crust and evened the top off with a rolling pin.
help! i don't see the cooking temp. can you please advise... thx!
Hi! I made this DELICIOUSLY tonight and GLUTEN FREE. Here are the small adjustments I made:
1. I used Cup4Cup gluten free flour blend, as I find it works the very best in pie crusts. My family swears the GF classic pie crust I make with it tastes better than gluten-filled pie crust, so I trust it.
2. GF crusts need a binder, because gluten is not present to do the trick. I added one egg yolk to a 1 cup glass measuring cup. I then added enough cold water to get 1/4 cup of liquid. For me, this was the exact perfect ratio to bring the crust together.
Simple as that!
Thank you for this...the crust is very simple to bring together and a lot less fussy that a classic pate brisee--especially a gluten free one!
I made this tonight and give it a 5 stars! And I used a store bought crust.
Some changes I made: I used 1.5 tsps of thyme (instead of 2) and felt that was just perfect otherwise the flavor can be overwhelming. Also skipped the nutmeg (not a huge fan.) And I used mustard greens which worked really well.
Will definitely make it again.
Can someone please confirm that 375 is the baking temp for the tart? Thank you in advance.
This is delicious!! I had collard greens and asiago, so that's what I used (as well as low-fat milk, because that's what I had), and it is amazingly fantastic. I loved using my tart pan, and the crispy crunch of the cornmeal and millet were superb. A definite keeper.
Made this for brunch yesterday, delicious! It came out looking great too.
I did sauté the kale with the red onion (didn't have shallot) to combine those two steps into one. I really liked the crunch of the millet in the crust. Will definitely make again.
I made this tonight. Instead of layering, I stirred the kale, shallots, and custard all together in one bowl and then poured it into the crust. Worked great. I didn't, however, really care for the millet in the the crust. Too crunchy for my liking.
I ended up using kale in mine and it was so delicious! I love that you added millet into the crust, millet is one of my favorite grains but I don't find that many recipes that call for it. I featured this recipe in my latest weekly meal plan on my blog, thank you!