Swiss chard was a source of joy and tears at the same time in my house. While the leaves cooked with potatoes, dark in color and with a bitter taste, generated an irrational rejection in my little person, the leaves that my father kept to prepare stuffed with melted cheese and cooked ham were received as a delicacy.
Over the years I have completely reconciled myself with the leaf of this vegetable, partly thanks to learning how to cook them as they deserve. In boiling water for just a couple of minutes and then passed through cold water with ice, they maintain their freshness and a much brighter color. Then you can add them to a light sauce or sauté them with a little oil, or with even less complications: directly in the pan with a sauce of garlic, cayenne and oil until they reduce in size. On the plate with a little Parmesan and lemon zest they are a very simple show.
The pencas, on the other hand, continue to be that delicate snack of my childhood, prepared just like my father used to do. However, what I have been able to observe is that, unlike in my house, this part is usually discarded, because it is very hard, leathery. As with many foods, it is a matter of knowing and learning how to prepare them to get used to them and include them in our repertoire.
Without much complication, like a little book or English, the cooked penca is filled with the chosen ingredients: the traditional version has cheese and cooked ham, the most innovative I have seen with dried tomato, anchovies, duck breast or bechamel of ham. I prepare them keeping that original flavor, choosing quality ingredients -a good combination of cheeses, such as a 36-month-old comté that provides power and a cream cheese, giving a lot of creaminess, is key- and with some personal license. Instead of cooked ham I have decided to put pastrami, which gives it a very special spicy and smoked touch, and a little pesto. But whoever makes the recipe can adapt it to his personal disposition and taste without any problem.
Difficulty
The one to leave the pencas cooked to the point.
Ingredients
About 12 fresh chard stalks
- About 200 g of cheese: one that adds flavor and another that melts very well (comté and cream cheese, for example)
- 100g pastrami
- pesto to taste
- 1 egg
- white wheat flour
- Salt
- extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
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Cut the leaves into pieces about seven centimeters long.
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Cook the leaves in boiling water with a little salt for seven minutes.
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Cut the cheese into thin slices.
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Assemble the stuffed leaves by placing a teaspoon of pesto, cheese and pastrami between two cooked leaves.
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Coat in flour and egg and fry in a hot pan with olive oil. Drain and serve very hot.
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#Stuffed #chard #stalks