Tag Archives: Swiss chard

Potato, Three-Cheese, & Swiss Chard Cakes

April 4, 2016 rusticoblog

These colorful potato patties are reminiscent of panfried gnocchi with lots of greens and cheese added. Much easier to shape than gnocchi, and completely flour-free, they are an ideal side dish to meat or poultry, or a satisfying appetizer served atop arugula dressed with lemon juice and olive oil or, as in the picture below, shredded green cabbage cooked with mustard seeds and garlic until browned at the edges and limp.

Feel free to use spinach or beet greens or Tuscan kale instead of the Swiss chard, and to swap out goat cheese for the Feta, or Pecorino for the Parmigiano; you really can’t go wrong with potatoes, greens, and cheese cooked in a bit of olive oil until golden on the outside and creamy on the inside!

Serves 2 as a side dish or appetizer

1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed
2 ounces whole-milk Ricotta
1 ounce French Feta cheese, crumbled
1 ounce freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch Swiss chard, washed thoroughly
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon chili pepper
2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced

Place the potatoes in a saucepan. Cover with cool water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook until just tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes. Reserve the cooking water, but remove the potatoes from the saucepan, drain, and cool.

Peel the potatoes and place in a bowl. Crush with a fork, leaving some small chunks for a more interesting texture. Stir in the Ricotta, Feta, and Parmigiano. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and all the pepper. Set aside.

Return the potato cooking water to a boil. Remove the stems from the Swiss chard (reserve it for another use; I love the stems boiled, then tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper). Drop in the Swiss chard leaves and cook 3 minutes, or until floppy. Drain, cool, and squeeze dry. Chop the leaves finely.

Place 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add the chili flakes, scallions, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the scallions are soft, about 3 minutes.

Add the Swiss chard leaves and cook until they are wilted and aromatic, about 5 minutes. Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir into the potato mixture and allow to cool thoroughly.

Compact the mixture with your hands and shape into 4 patties, each about 1 -inch thick.

Wipe out the nonstick skillet. Place it on medium heat. Brush it with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil.

Place the potato patties in the skillet and cook until golden and crisp on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Brush the tops of the potato patties with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil.

Flip the potato patties carefully. Cook until the other side is also golden and crisp, about 5 more minutes. Serve hot.

Main Course: Vegetarian

Swiss Chard & Pecorino Crespelle

September 11, 2014 rusticoblog

Cooks in the Italian countryside often make simple crespelle (the Italian word for crepes) with flour and water only, no eggs or milk or fats added. The result is a slightly chewy, hearty wrapper that best encases sharp cheeses such as Pecorino, or a thin slice of salty Prosciutto, or, as below, a garlic-laced vegetable filling.

I serve these crespelle as a vegetarian main course when I am inspired by the greens at the market; broccoli raab, Swiss chard, spinach, beet greens, or escarole all work well. You can even combine a few different greens to obtain a more complex flavor.

The crespelle can be made up to 12 hours ahead and kept covered with plastic wrap at room temperature until needed. Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 2 days in a tightly sealed plastic bag, but my guess is, there won’t be any leftovers once you try these!

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer

For the crespelle:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup room-temperature water, plus extra as needed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For the filling:

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves only, thoroughly washed and chopped
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
1 garlic clove, very finely minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 ounce (1/4 cup) freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Make the crespelle: Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl. Whisking all the while, beat in enough warm water (about 1 cup) to make a smooth, fluid, fairly thin batter that flows like heavy cream. Strain through a sieve into a clean bowl.

Heat an 8-inch round cast iron or nonstick skillet over high heat. Brush very lightly with some of the olive oil, and pour in about 1/4 cup or so of the batter (measure first, but use a ladle to spoon it into the pan for ease), tilting the pan immediately to spread it all the way to the edges. (If the batter does not spread easily, thin it out with additional water.) The batter should barely cover the base of the skillet, or else the crespelle will be too thick and therefore tough.

Cook 3 minutes, or until lightly crisp around the edges and spotted lightly on the bottom. Turn and cook the other side for 1 minute, or until lightly speckled with brown spots. Remove to a plate; continue with the remaining batter, making (ideally) eight crespelle in all.

Make the filling: Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of the salt and drop in the chard leaves. Cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Drain, cool under running water, and squeeze dry. Chop finely and place in a bowl. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, the garlic, chili, olive oil, and Pecorino. Stir well and taste for seasoning; adjust as needed.

Arrange the crespelle in a single layer on a tray. Top evenly with some of the filling, fold into quarters, and enjoy.

Soup

Barley and Swiss Chard Soup

March 30, 2014 rusticoblog

It’s supposed to be spring already, but today was a drizzly day after a long and snowy winter… soup was in order. I craved the silky texture of flash-cooked Swiss chard and the toothsome texture of barley, so here is the soup I came up with. If you have escarole or spinach in the refrigerator, they work well in place of the chard.

Variation: To make this soup creamy in texture and a bit spicy, whisk together 2/3 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt, 1 grated garlic clove, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, and 1 teaspoon crumbled dried mint, then stir into the soup just before serving.

Serves 2

1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup pearl barley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
leaves from 1 large bunch rainbow Swiss chard, thinly sliced (4 cups packed)

Place 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over medium-low heat until the onion is soft and barely golden, about 8 minutes, stirring once in a while to prevent the garlic from burning.

Add the broth, and bring to a gentle boil. Drop in the barley and season with the salt and pepper. Cook, covered, stirring once in a while, until the barley is fully cooked but not mushy, about 30 minutes.

When you are ready to serve, stir in the chard leaves, and cook until they are soft and wilted, about 3 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed. Serve hot, drizzled with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. For extra richness, sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Vegetables

Slow-Roasted Swiss Chard Stems with Parmigiano

March 16, 2014 rusticoblog

Many people are stumped as to what to do with Swiss chard leaves: they use the leaves, and discard the stems. Swiss chard stems are delicious in salad, or even roasted.

After trimming your Swiss chard stems (see below), wash well, chop coarsely, and cook for 5 minutes in boiling water before dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and slivered garlic; or boil as whole stems and roast under a layer of béchamel sauce and a dusting of Parmigiano at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Or, simpler and healthier still, try the recipe below, for slow-roasted Swiss chard stems with just a dusting of Parmigiano.

Check out our recipe for Pasta Gratin with Swiss Chard, Fontina, and Nutmeg to use up your Swiss chard leaves now that you’ve used the stems!

Serves 2

Stems from 2 bunches Swiss chard (I prefer rainbow chard for its vibrant colors)
1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Preheat the oven to 325° (preferably set on convection).

To prepare Swiss chard stems for cooking, wash well, then take a paring knife and cut off the bottom half-inch or so from each stem, and without releasing the knife, pull up to “peel” each stem, effectively removing a thin outer layer of fibrous strings.

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the stems and 1 teaspoon of the salt, and stir well. Cover and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, or just until the stems are tender when pierced with a knife; they should not be falling apart.

Drain and cool under running water. Blot dry on paper towels and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with the olive oil and season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the pepper. Dust with the Parmigiano.

Lay another sheet of parchment paper over the stems and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the stems are golden and soft. (If you do not have parchment paper, cover with aluminum foil; the stems need to be covered while roasting or they will dry out.) Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Main Course: Vegetarian

Pasta Gratin with Swiss Chard, Fontina, and Nutmeg

February 28, 2014 rusticoblog

Our good friend Bill Bateman just came back from Val d’Aosta, where he goes every winter to ski and enjoy the food and scenery, and we were once again the lucky recipients of some fabulous Fontina cheese he bought while there. What an amazing cheese! It melts incredibly well, and the aroma is subtle, milky, nutty, grassy. Of course I wanted to incorporate the Fontina in as many dishes as I could while it was still fresh from Italy, so here is one recent creation, based on a recipe I found in Gourmet Magazine a few years ago and doctored to my taste.

I used homemade egg pasta cut into curly pappardelle for this dish; but you can certainly use store-bought, as long as the pasta is fresh and thin. And while I made this dish to showcase Bill’s Fontina, you can use Raclette or Gruyere instead, as these are often easier to find.

For ideas of how to use your Swiss chard stems (do not throw them out–they are delicious and nutritious!), see our post on chard stems.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer

1 large bunch Swiss chard, preferably rainbow, ribs removed and reserved for another use (see note above), leaves coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon salt
¼ pound fresh egg pasta (ideally Pappardelle or tagliatelle)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing the pan
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced (1 and ½ cups)
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 large eggs
½ cup whole or 2% milk
2 ounces Mascarpone (preferably imported Italian)
2 ounces Fontina from Val d’Aosta, rind removed, grated
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preheat the oven to 350° (preferably set on convection).

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add the coarsely chopped chard leaves and 2 tablespoons of the salt, and cook 5 minutes, or until soft; remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cool water and keep the water boiling. Drain the chard, cool under running water, and squeeze out as much water as possible with your hands. Chop finely and set aside.

Add the fresh pasta to the pot of boiling water and cook, until al dente, about 2 minutes; drain and toss with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and set aside.

Meanwhile, place the remaining teaspoon of olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté over medium heat until golden and lightly caramelized, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the chard and sauté another 5 minutes, or until the chard is warmed through and wilted. Season with ½ teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Set aside.

Brush an oven-to-table roasting pan with olive oil; I find an 8-inch square or 9-inch x 4-inch pan works well.

Place the drained pasta and chard mixture in the pan and mix with your hands or tongs.

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and Mascarpone; add the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper. The mixture will be lumpy, which is fine; the lumps will dissolve once the pasta is placed in the hot oven. Stir the egg mixture into the pasta and chard.

Scatter the Fontina on top of the pasta, and sprinkle with the Parmigiano.

Bake in the preheated oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. You can slip the pasta under the broiler for 5 minutes for extra crunch on top. Serve hot.

Rustico Cooking