Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [232]
For 4 to 6 servings
2½ pounds young Swiss chard with undeveloped stalks or 3¼ pounds mature chard
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup for cooking the chard plus more for greasing and topping the pan
⅔ cup onion chopped fine
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup pignoli (pine nuts)
⅓ cup seedless raisins, preferably of the muscat variety, soaking in enough water to cover
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
A 9½- or 10-inch springform baking pan
⅔ heaping cup unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted
1. If using mature chard, cut off the broad stalks and set aside to use in vegetable soup or bake as described in this recipe. Cut the leaves and any very thin stalks into ¼-inch shreds. Soak the shredded chard in a basin with several changes of cold water, until the water runs completely clear of any soil.
2. Put about 1 quart water in a pot large enough to contain the chard later, and bring it to a boil. Add a liberal quantity of salt, wait for the water to resume a fast boil, then drop in the chard. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes depending on the youth and freshness of the chard, then drain and set aside to cool.
3. When cool enough to handle, take as much chard in your hand as you can hold and squeeze as much moisture out of it as you can. When you have done all the chard, chop it very fine—into pieces no bigger than ¼ inch—using a knife, not the food processor.
4. Preheat oven to 350°.
5. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently contain all the chard, put in ¼ cup olive oil and the chopped onion, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the onion, stirring frequently, until it becomes colored a light nut-brown.
6. Add the chopped chard, and turn up the heat to high. Cook, turning the chard over frequently, until it becomes difficult to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan, then transfer the entire contents of the pan to a bowl and set aside to cool.
7. When the chard has cooled down to room temperature, add the grated Parmesan, the beaten eggs, and the pine nuts. Drain the raisins, squeeze them dry in your hand, and add them to the bowl, together with a few grindings of pepper. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are evenly combined, and taste and correct for salt and pepper.
8. Smear the bottom and sides of the springform pan with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. Put in a little more than half the bread crumbs, spreading them to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Add the chard mixture, leveling it off, but not pressing it hard. Top with the remaining bread crumbs, and drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil poured in a thin stream. Put the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes.
9. When you take the pan out, run a knife blade around the edge of the torte, loosening it from the sides of the pan, then unlatch the springform hoop and remove it. After 5 or 6 minutes, use a spatula to loosen the torte from the pan’s bottom section and slide it, without turning it over, onto a serving platter. Serve at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.
EGGPLANT
When and what to buy Although you can walk into a market almost any time of the year and find eggplant, it never tastes quite so good the rest of the year as it does during its natural season, from mid- to late summer. It is at its best for a not too long period after it has been picked; beyond that, its underlying bitter flavor begins to be more prominent and most eggplant has to be purged of it by steeping in salt (see below). Do not buy eggplant that feels soft and spongy or whose skin is mottled, opaque, or wrinkled. It should feel firm in the hand, and the skin should be glossy, smooth, and intact.
The typical Italian eggplant is long, skinny, and dark purple, but Italians also use globe-like ones as well as the stout, pear-shaped variety prevalent in North America, and white eggplant is not uncommon. All of these can be found at one time or another in many markets, and for most recipes they are interchangeable. White eggplant seems to me to be the most dependable