Just about everyone seems to be on their summer break right now, so this week’s lead ingredient keeps the holiday theme going: swiss chard has leaves so large, they look a bit like the huge fan you’d want to waft about you in the midday sun, while its stalks are as white as some British legs abroad.
For those holidaying closer to home, chard is in its element. You can get hold of it all year round, sure, but it’s from late July that chard is available in abundance; this is the season when you’ll find me happily piling it into all sorts of soups, gratins, tarts and pastries.
The iron-rich, sharp-tasting leaves pair incredibly well with cheese (in a chard and comté tart, say, or in a soup with crumbled feta) and are robust enough to take centre stage as a main course. If a recipe calls for the leaves only, for heaven’s sake don’t chuck out the stalks: they’re succulent and delicious in their own right. Just roughly chop, saute with olive oil and garlic, then pile on top of cooked bulgar; or cook them down slowly with meat and/or vegetables into a rich, lemony stew.
Cheesy swiss chard cigars
These stuffed filo parcels are best eaten hot, about 10 minutes after they’ve come out of the oven, but you can prepare them ahead of time – right up to the point when you brush them with butter before they go into the oven. Serves four as a main course.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 strips finely shaved lemon skin
2 tbsp picked thyme leaves
400g swiss chard, washed, leaves and stalks separated, leaves roughly shredded and stalks finely sliced
Salt and black pepper
250g ricotta
40g parmesan, finely grated
90g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
30g panko breadcrumbs
60g unsalted butter, melted
8 sheets of filo pastry, large enough to be cut into 16 sheets measuring approx 17cm x 23cm
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Over a medium-high flame, heat the oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid. Add the onion, nutmeg, lemon skin and thyme, fry for five minutes, until soft and caramelised, then add all chard, half a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper. Stir-fry for two minutes, until the leaves start to wilt, then turn down the heat to medium, cover the pan and cook for eight minutes, stirring often, until the leaves have completely wilted and the stalks are soft.
Off the heat, stir in the ricotta, 30g parmesan, 70g cheddar and two-thirds of the breadcrumbs. I like to keep the strips of lemon skin in the mix, but if you don’t fancy that, remove them at this stage, then divide the mix into eight equal-ish portions (of about 90g each).
Cut the sheets of pastry to produce 16 rectangles measuring approximately 17cm x 23cm. Place one sheet of filo on a clean work surface with the long side facing you, brush all over with melted butter, then place another sheet of filo on top. Spoon one portion of the filling in a line along the bottom edge of the pastry, leaving a 2cm border on each side, then roll up the filo to enclose the filling in a 4cm-thick cigar. Tuck the ends of the pastry under the bottom of the cigar, to keep the filling inside, and place in a buttered, 20cm x 30cm ovenproof dish. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling; the eight cigars should end up lying snugly side by side in the dish.
Brush the tops of the cigars all over with the remaining butter, then bake for 30 minutes, until golden-brown. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan, cheddar and panko, bake for 10-15 minutes more, until the pastry and breadcrumbs are crisp and golden-brown and the cheese melted, then leave to rest for 10 minutes. Serve hot, with a crisp, sharp salad alongside.
Stuffed swiss chard with rice and herbs
This is as good the next day at room temperature as it is fresh from the oven. Keep in the fridge overnight, but take out at least an hour before serving. Serves four as a first course.
600g large swiss chard leaves (ie from a 1kg bundle; trim off the stalks and keep them for another dish)
2 tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tbsp extra to serve
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2-3 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground cumin
250g short-grain rice
Salt
50g currants
20g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
10g fresh dill, roughly chopped, plus 1 tbsp extra to garnish
10g tarragon leaves, roughly chopped, plus 1 tbsp extra to garnish
500ml vegetable stock
2½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
90ml lemon juice
200g yoghurt
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the chard leaves and simmer for a minute. Drain, refresh under cold running water, then carefully lay the leaves flat on two clean tea towels, so they soak up any excess water.
Heat the oil in a large saute pan on a medium flame, then fry the onion and celery for about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time, until soft. Add the cinnamon, cumin, rice and a teaspoon of salt, cook for another minute, then take off the heat and stir in the currants and herbs.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Take two chard leaves and lay one on top of the other, to make a double layer, then repeat with all the other leaves. Put a heaped dessertspoon of the rice mix in the centre of each exposed chard leaf, placing it nearer the end where the stalk used to be. Fold the sides of the leaves over the rice, then roll from the stem up, to make a compact parcel. Put the stuffed leaf in a ceramic 28cm x 18cm oven dish, and repeat with remaining leaves and rice mix. You should end up with 12 parcels lying snugly side by side.
In a small saucepan, bring the stock, pomegranate molasses and lemon juice to a boil, then pour all over the stuffed chard. Cover the dish tightly with foil, then bake for an hour, until the rice is cooked and there’s very little liquid left in the bottom of the dish. Serve three chard parcels per portion, topping each with a big dollop of yoghurt, a sprinkling of extra dill and tarragon, and a final drizzle of oil.
Polenta, chard and sorrel bake
This is lovely warm, but also good at room temperature, ready sliced and packed for a picnic. The sorrel adds a lovely, lemony kick, but don’t worry if you can’t find any: just use two teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest instead, and add 100g more chard to the mix. Thanks to Vefa Alexiadou, whose book Vefa’s Kitchen is both the bible of Greek cooking and the inspiration here. Serves eight as a main course if served with a simple salad.
100ml olive oil
1½ tsp caraway seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1kg plum tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
500g swiss chard, washed, leaves and stems separated, leaves roughly chopped and stalks finely sliced
Salt
130g sorrel, roughly shredded
25g mint leaves, roughly chopped
25g dill, roughly chopped
8 spring onions, cut into 1cm pieces
200g feta, roughly crumbled into 2cm pieces
60g pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
2 eggs, lightly whisked
190g greek yoghurt
40g parmesan, finely grated
150g coarse polenta (fine polenta will do, if you can’t find coarse)
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid, then fry the caraway and garlic over a medium-high flame for a minute, stirring most of the time. Add the tomatoes, chard and half a teaspoon of salt, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the chard has wilted and the tomatoes have broken down. Take off the heat and stir in the sorrel, mint, dill, spring onions, feta and olives.
Put the eggs, yoghurt, parmesan, remaining 70ml oil, polenta, 150ml water and a half-teaspoon of salt in a large bowl and mix to a thick batter. Pour half the batter into a 20cm x 30cm ovenproof baking dish, so it completely covers the base, then spoon the greens evenly over the top. Pour over the remaining batter – it won’t completely cover the greens, but that’s OK. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until risen and dark golden-brown on top, leave to stand for 10 minutes, and serve hot.
Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.
