Pizzoccheri With Chard

awalde's Note:

Pizzoccheri is a northern Italian buckwheat pasta dish with chard plant, potatoes, and cheese. Traditionaly cabbage is used in this recipe, but I prefer chard plant from my garden.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 500 g green chard leaves, in 1 cm cubes
• 300 g potatoes, peeled, in 1 cm cubes
• 100 g margarine
• 2 big onions, peeled and sliced
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• 500 g pizzoccheri pasta (buckwheat flat ribbon pasta, available in some supermarkets or specialist delis) or 500 g whole wheat pasta, e.g. penne
• 200 g mountain cheese or 200 g Fontina cheese, in 1 cm cubes
• 100 parmigiano, cheese in small cubes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the green chard leaves and the potatoes and boil for 5 minutes.
2. Add the pizzoccheri pasta and potato and continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes to packet instructions.
3. In the meanwhile melt the margarine in a large frying pan and fry the onions with the sage until the onions are well roasted.
4. Drain the pizzoccheri, potatoes and chard plant mixture.
5. Remove from the heat, stir in the onions and the cheese and mix slightly. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.