Though my market only stocked green chard when I was shopping for the ingredients for this recipe, I imagine rainbow chard would be gorgeous – give it a try! Also feel free to experiment with amount of bread crumbs, flavor of bread crumbs, type of cheese, cheese amounts, etc.
Lentil, Chard and Roast Plum Tomato Gratin
3-4 Roma tomatoes
extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling + 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
1 cup French green lentils
2 1/4 lb. chard, washed and leaves separated from stalks
4 garlic cloves, minced
generous pinch of dried thyme
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1/2-1 cup parmesan, pecorino romano, or other hard cheese, grated (add as much or as little cheese as you like, depending on your love of cheese)
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice tomatoes thickly, place on a lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast for 25 minutes; until tomatoes are lightly colored. Set aside.
2.) Bring a medium sized saucepan of salted water to a boil, add lentils, and simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes; until tender. Drain and set aside.
3.) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add chard leaves, and boil for around 5 minutes. Drain and finely chop. Add chard to the lentils and season the mixture generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4.) Chop chard stalks into 1/2 chunks. In a medium skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, thyme, and chard stalks and cook for 5 minutes. Add wine to skillet, partially cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally; until stalks are tender. If mixture gets too dry, pour in a bit more wine to loosen things up a bit. Season with salt and pepper. Add to lentil and chard mixture along with any juices.
5.) Oil a 9 x 12″ baking dish. Place tomatoes in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Spoon lentil mixture over tomatoes. Mix cheese and bread crumbs together in a bowl. Sprinkle cheese and bread crumb mixture over lentils. Bake for 40-50 minutes; until golden. Serve with a chunk off good bread.
This recipe was adapted from Denis Cotter’s Wild Garlic, Gooseberries… and Me. Copyright 2007. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Habitually Hungry 