A savory open tart from Nivelles made with Swiss chard and pungent fermented boulette de Nivelles cheese bound with eggs and herbs in a yeasted pastry shell, finished with a knob of melted butter the moment it leaves the oven.
The earliest textual mention of a Nivelles cheese tart appears in a 1218 arbitration record between the abbess and her chapter; that document describes only cheese tarts (placentae), and chard (Walloon 'djote') is not documented in the recipe until around 1546, giving the tarte al djote its modern form. The tart has long been tied to the city's street life and market culture. In 1980, the Confrérîye dèl Târte al Djote was established in Nivelles to safeguard quality; members conduct blind annual tastings and award establishments between one and five stars, with results announced publicly each February. The cheese at its heart, boulette de Nivelles — locally called bétchèye — is a low-fat fermented fresh cow's-milk cheese made on Walloon farms and eaten fresh or lightly aged.
The crust yields with a short, buttery crunch, giving way to a yielding, slightly grainy filling of pungent fermented cheese and silky chard, with the finishing butter cutting through the acidity and rounding every bite.
The yeast dough ferments during its rest, developing gluten networks that give the crust structure and a faint tang. At 200°C, the egg-bound filling undergoes thermal coagulation: egg proteins set at around 70-80°C, stabilizing the cheese-chard mixture without drying it. The fermented boulette de Nivelles contributes lactic and acetic acids as well as proteolytically broken-down casein, which melt smoothly into the hot filling rather than stringing. Chard's oxalic acid softens on baking, while its residual moisture steams gently within the egg matrix, maintaining a yielding texture.
Variations
Some bakers substitute boulette de Wallonie (a commercially available cousin) for the hard-to-find boulette de Nivelles. A richer version uses cream in the egg mixture. Parsley and minced onion are standard additions; some cooks add nutmeg.
On the Palate
Where Tarte al djote sits in the Belgian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
7 steps · 30 min active + 1 hour waiting
- 115 min
Mix flour, salt, softened butter, yeast dissolved in warm milk, and one egg into a smooth dough; cover and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour until doubled.
- 210 min
Wash the Swiss chard, strip the leaves from the stems, blanch leaves in boiling salted water for 2 minutes, drain thoroughly, and chop finely.
Watch outBlanch the chard leaves briefly, then drain and squeeze them thoroughly — leftover water makes a runny filling that won't set and weeps into the crust.
- 310 min
Crumble the boulette de Nivelles into a bowl; add the chopped chard, minced parsley, finely diced onion, and two beaten eggs; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg; mix until uniform.
- 410 min
Roll the dough thinly (3 mm) and line a buttered tart pan; trim the edges and prick the base.
- 55 min
Spread the cheese-chard filling evenly into the shell; dot the surface with small pieces of butter.
- 615 min
Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes until the filling is just set and lightly golden at the edges.
Watch outPull the tart when the filling is just set and the edges are lightly golden — a wobble is fine; bake it firm all through and the egg custard turns dry and grainy.
- 72 min
Remove from the oven immediately; top generously with melted salted butter and serve hot.
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