The briny capers, sweet nutty pistachio oil, and crunchy nuts all play off one another and make a great foil for the earthy chard.
INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch of chard, leaves removed from stems and reserved, stems minced, leaves cut into 1 inch bits and washed well, then drained ½ medium white or brown onion, minced 2 cloves garlic, green germ removed, minced 3-4 ounces dry white wine 2 tablespoons brined capers 2 tablespoons pistachio oil, or to taste* ¼ cup or more roasted pistachios Salt and pepper to taste Olive oil as neededMETHOD:
Heat a 10 inch sauté pan over medium-high heat. When hot, film generously with olive oil. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the minced chard stems and onions and toss to coat with oil.
Sauté until browning and soft. If things are cooking too fast and the vegetables look to be burning before softening, turn down the heat and add a couple ounces of water to the pan to cool it down. Cook until the onions and stems are tobacco colored.
Add the minced garlic and stir into the onion and stems. Cook until fragrant.
When garlic is fragrant and softened, add the wine-there should be enough to cover the entire pan bottom evenly- and cook down while stirring gently until almost entirely gone.
Make a space in the center of the vegetables and the capers to the pan. If there is no oil or liquid, add some oil to the pan to coat the capers. Cook 30 seconds. Lower the heat to medium-low or low.
Drizzle 1 tablespoon pistachio oil over the contents of the pan and stir well. Add as much chard as will fit into the pan without spilling out. Use tongs to stir around the mess. Cook until the chard has decreased in volume, then add the rest of the chard and use the tongs to turn everything so it cooks evenly.
Season with salt and pepper and cook gently until the chard is just cooked through. Drizzle another tablespoon or more of pistachio oil over the vegetables and toss to mix in. Scatter the pistachios over the pan and mix in and cook just long enough to heat through. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, use the tongs to transfer the vegetables to a serving dish or to plates, and raise the heat a little and reduce toe liquid until syrupy. Pour the reduced liquid over the chard and serve hot.
Chef’s Notes:
If you wish, you could sprinkle the top of the chard with some bread crumbs sautéed until golden for additional crunch.
Serves: 4
Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen
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Fantastic recipe. Loved the capers. As usual in my hurried way, I didn’t have all ingredients. Substituted walnut oil for pistachio, pecans for pistachios and vermouth for white wine. Still was fantastic. TY chef Andrew!