Recipe - Stuffed Chard In Red Wines With Cremini Mushrooms (Tuscan)

16 lg Red chard leaves; *see note

THE STUFFING
3 tablespoon Extravirgin olive oil
1 md Onion; minced
1 small Carrot; scraped and minced
1 Celery stalk; strings pulled
and finely chopped
2 Saffron strands; soaked in 1
cup hot water, for an hour
4 cup Cooked short grain rice
One half cup Toasted pine nuts; chopped
5 tablespoon Chopped fresh parsley
2 Eggs; lightly beaten
Salt and pepper

THE MUSHROOM SAUCE
2 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1 One half pound Cremini mushrooms; cleaned
and minced
1 cup Dry red wine
One half cup Vegetable stock

1. Parboil the chard leaves until flexible. Refresh in cold water to stop
the cooking. Using a sharp paring knife, remove the stems and reserve for
another use.

2. For the stuffing: Heat the oil in a skillet. Saute the onion, carrot,
and celery over low heat until the vegetables are soft and the flavors have
melded. Transfer to a bowl. Strain the saffron over a glass (reserving the
liquid) and add the threads to the bowl along with the rice, pine nuts,
parsley and eggs. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

3. For the mushroom sauce: Heat the butter in a skillet and, when melted,
saute the mushrooms over low heat until they are soft and pastelike. Add

the wine, reserved saffron liquid and vegetable stock and simmer over
medium heat for 10 minutes.

4. Place 4 tablespoons stuffing in the center of each chard leaf. Fold into
square packets and place, seam side down, in an ovenproof casserole large
enough to hold all of them in one layer. Pack them closely so they cannot
unroll. Pour in the mushroom wine sauce until it barely covers the packets.
Cover and cook in a PREHEATED 350degree oven for 1 hour. Serve the packets
from the casserole using the braising liquid as a sauce.

SERVES 4; TIME: 2 hours; Moderate DIFFICULTY mcPER SERVING 39% cff:
677cals; 28g fat

VARIATIONs: Cabbage leaves can be used in place of chard. Packets can also
be cooked over a mediumhot grill or beneath a broiler for 23 minutes on
each side until browned but not charred.

MAKE AHEAD: The stuffing blend can be prepared up to 4 hours in advance and
refrigerated. The chard leaves can be parboiled up to 1 day in advance and
refrigerated.

"Bietola Ripiena," or "Stuffed Chard Packets Braised in Red Wines with
Cremini Mushrooms," From SOLO VERDURA, by Anne Bianchi (Ecco, 1997).
Edited by Pat Hanneman 3/98

Notes: Every culture has its tradition of wrapped leaves simmered in a
savory sauce. In Tuscany, the leaf of choice is often chard which is large
(about 9inch in diameter) and sturdy enough to contain any combination of
stuffing ingredients. The following recipe is a variation on one made for
me by a friend in Lucca. In Place of Mirella's meat filling, I have
substituted saffron and pine nuts which blend beautifully with the wine and
mushroom soffrito in which it cooks.

Recipe by: SOLO VERDURA, by Anne Bianchi

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by KitPATh phannema@wizard.ucr.edu on Mar 26,
1998