Seasonal Recipe of the Week
Here is a great way to serve Swiss Chard that even your kids will eat, must be the pancetta. Pancetta is like Italian bacon and you can substitute bacon or even diced prosciutto, or even dare I say smoked tofu of you like, but then you will need to up the oil a little.
Ingredients
2 bunches Swiss Chard
salt and pepper
1/4 pound pancetta or bacon or prosciutto
3 tablespoons evoo
1 clove minced garlic
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons red wine or sherry vinegar
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
5 peeled, hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Procedure
Cut the ribs out of the chard then chop the ribs and the leaves. Blanch the ribs in boiling water with a good dose of salt in it and cook about 7 minutes till tender. Using a slotted spoon remove the ribs and now add the leaves and cook briefly 3-5 minutes till tender then drain well and rinse under cold water till cool. Squeeze out the excess water and chop a little finer and squeeze out again. In a frying pan cook the pancetta or bacon about 5 minutes. If you use bacon pour off the fat at this point. Now add 1 tablespoon olive oil and garlic and continue to cook till golden. With a slotted spoon remove pancetta pieces and garlic to paper towels and set aside. Add 2 tablespoons balsamic to the same pan and de-glaze it which means using a wooden spoon scrape all the burnt bits from the bottom and sides of the pan. Now pour this yummy mix into a bowl. Into this same bowl add 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon red wine or sherry vinegar and the 2 remaining tablespoons of olive oil to the bowl and mix well. Now add the chard, pancetta and garlic, parsley, and remaining oil and vinegar. Season to taste. Gently fold in the eggs, garnish with a little more parsley and a pinch of cayenne pepper. This recipe makes 4-5 servings.
