Polenta Stuffed Chard with Quick Honey Tomato Sauce

The inspirations for this bubbly dish of goodness came from a few sources.  The first is a recipe for polenta stuffed chard by Gretchen McKay published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  The second is a quick pasta sauce recipe in the Best Recipes Cookbook by America's Test Kitchens.  And finally, our recent honey extraction, the big leaves of Swiss chard growing in the garden, and the bumper crop of garlic scapes inspired me to fiddle with both of these recipes.  Though the dish requires a few steps and a little advanced planning (the polenta needs some time to set up), it's not that complicated--and it's delicious!

Truth be told:  you could make this dish with any nice tomato sauce recipe you have--you don't need to have a drop of honey in the house (or garlic scapes for that matter; just substitute some minced garlic cloves).  But this is a blog about cooking with honey, so there's honey in this dish!

For the polenta:
3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth, or even water if you'd prefer--though you may need a bit more salt)
1 cup of polenta (or coarsely ground corn meal)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of salt

Lightly oil a 4x10 glass dish (or 8x8).  Bring the broth (or water) to a rolling boil in a sauce pan.  Slowly whisk in the polenta, stirring constantly. Lower the heat so that the polenta barely plops an occasional bubble. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently to be sure the polenta does not stick to the bottom of the pan.  When the polenta is very thick, remove from the heat, stir in the butter and the Parmesan, blending well.  Pour the polenta into the prepared glass dish and cool for at least 15 minutes.  Place in the refrigerator to set up for about 30 minutes.  If you're making the polenta well in advance, cover it. It can sit overnight.  When ready to make the rolls, cut the polenta into 12 pieces, about 2x3 inches.

While the polenta is setting up, make the tomato sauce:

For the honey tomato sauce:
3 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 garlic scapes (about 4 inches long), chopped
1 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes, chopped
1/8 cup honey
1 tablespoon vodka
4-6 good sized basil leaves, minced
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
salt to taste.

Heat a frying pan over medium high heat and add the olive oil, letting it heat for about 30 seconds or so.  Add the minced garlic scapes with a pinch of salt and saute for about 1-2 minutes, being careful not to let the scapes brown.

Add the tomatoes, stirring to distribute and bring them to a gentle simmer.  Cook for about 10 minutes so that they become thick and reduce a bit.

Stir in the honey, vodka and basil and cook for a few minutes more then remove from heat.  Taste and check seasoning, adding some salt and pepper (and if you'd like, red pepper flakes).

Prepare the Swiss Chard: 

You'll need 12 large Swiss chard leaves. Wash the leaves and cut the thickest part of the stem out, trying to keep them intact if you can. Put the leaves in a bowl and pour boiling water over to wilt them.  Let them sit in the water for about 6 minutes and then drain in a colander.

For the rolls:

12 wilted Swiss chard leaves (see above)

12 pieces of polenta, about 2x3 inches long

6 1/2 inch slices of mozzarella cheese, cut in half

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Quick Honey Tomato Sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cover the bottom of an 9x13 glass baking dish with some of the Quick Honey Tomato Sauce. (I used two 8x8 glass dishes.)

Place a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) on the counter and put one wilted Swiss chard leaf on the towel, blotting it a bit to sop up any water that's clinging.  Place one piece of polenta on the edge of the leaves and top with one piece of mozzarella.  Top with about a tablespoon or so of sauce.  

Fold the leaf over the polenta and cheese like you're making a burrito: fold the side closest to you up first then fold over the two edges.  Roll until the leaf fully covers the polenta, cheese and sauce.

Place the roll in the prepared pan and continue making the rest of the rolls until you fill the pan.  Top the rolls with the remaining tomato sauce then top it all with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until the dish is hot and bubbly. Let sit for about 10 minutes to cool then serve.  This recipe makes 12 rolls, or enough for 6 people (without seconds!). 

Pickled Garlic Scapes

What a surprise to see the garlic scapes already winding and twisting their way out of the garlic plants yesterday.  They're at least a week if not more ahead, like many plants this year. I think of June as scape month.   Scapes are the garlic plant's flower heads. If they aren't snapped off when they emerge, then the plant will put lots of energy into the scape rather than into the garlic head beneath the ground.

Many folks just snap them off and compost them but they're edible (although Robert has his doubts).  They're not a strong as the garlic clove, but they do have a distinct garlic flavor and can be used anyway you'd use garlic:  saute them and put them in a pasta sauce, chop them and put them in a vinaigrette, add them to soups.  Search for "garlic scape recipes" on-line and you'll find lots of ideas. You can even grill them and eat them like a vegetable.  They're a delicacy!

Since my proclamations have not convinced Robert of their appeal, I decided to experiment by making garlic scape pickles. I figure if they're not good, I haven't lost much.   I hasten to add that this is a tried but not yet TASTED recipe, so I can't vouch for the flavor (or even the texture) of the scape pickles.  I just made them today and they need two weeks to develop.   I don't expect them to be very sweet pickles--in fact, I'm hoping they're more like dilly beans than anything.   I'll report back with tasting reviews once we give them a try.

TASTING UPDATE!  During the spring honey extraction, we tasted the scape pickles, with rave reviews.  They aren't too sweet (or salty)--very much like dilly beans.  Next time, I think I might trim off the fine, dark tips of the scapes, which tend to be a bit chewy when pickled.  This recipe, though, is a keeper!

Here's the recipe:


PICKLED GARLIC SCAPES WITH HONEY

pack the scapes into the jar

Makes 4 pints (or about 8 1/2 pints)

A big bowl of garlic scapes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
4 cups cider vinegar
2 cups water
4 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons dill seed*
1 1/2  teaspoons black peppercorns*
1 1/2  teaspoons yellow mustard seeds*

*You can use other seasonings--red pepper flakes, fresh basil, oregano, thyme--sky's the limit!

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Wash mason jars in hot soapy water and place on a cookie sheet.  Put jars in the oven for 30 minutes to sanitize.   Fill a canner with water about 2/3rds of the way full and bring to a boil. This will take about 20-30 minutes, too.

In a large, non-reactive (not aluminum) sauce pan, bring the vinegar, water, salt and honey to a boil and keep hot while you prep the jars with the scapes.

Thoroughly wash the scapes.  Boil some water and pour it over the lids to sterilize and also to ensure that the lids make a good contact with the jar.

Usually when canning, I fill the jars all at once and then cap them, but with these I had to do them one at a time as the scapes kept escaping from the jars.  I used eight 1/2 pint jars, but can appreciate why wide-mouth pints might be easier to work with.

When the jars are ready, place about 1/2 teaspoon of the dill seed, 1/4 teaspoon of peppercorns and mustard seeds in each.  Coil the scapes around the outside, pressing down firmly and then filling the center with scapes that have been cut to the length of the jar.  Pack them as tightly as you can.  Pour the hot brine over the packed scapes, filling to about 1/4 inch from the top.  Place the lid on top of the jar and screw on the band being careful not to screw it on too tightly.  Proceed with the rest of the jars.  Place in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.  Turn off the heat, remove the lid and let sit in the water for another 5 minutes.  Remove the jars to the counter.  Check the seals and store the pickles for two weeks to let the flavors develop.  Store any jars that did not seal in the refrigerator.

Fill with the brine

Jars ready to go in the water bath

boiling water bath for 15 minutes

VOILA!