Pencas de Acelga Rellenas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide pot for boiling chard
• •Clean kitchen towels for drying
• •Wide frying pan
• •Shallow cazuela or 28cm saute pan

Instructions

1. 1

   Trim the stalks

   Cut the green leaves away from the chard and save them for soup, tortilla, or a potaje. Trim the white stalks into even pieces about 10cm long, pulling away any tough strings as you go. You need 24 pieces, because each stuffed penca uses two pieces like bread around the filling.

2. 2

   Boil until tender

   Bring a wide pot of water to a boil and salt it with 1 teaspoon fine salt. Add the chard stalks and cook for 10 to 14 minutes, depending on thickness, until a knife slides into the thickest part with little resistance. Do not cook them to collapse. They must bend, not break.

   If your chard stalks are very thick, add two minutes. If they are thin, start checking at eight minutes. Pésalo, no lo adivines for ingredients, but with vegetables you also use the knife.
3. 3

   Drain and dry

   Lift the stalks to a clean towel and let them drain for 10 minutes. Pat both sides very dry. This is the small step that saves the dish: wet pencas shed their flour and egg in the pan, while dry ones take the batter neatly and fry golden.

4. 4

   Build the sofrito

   While the stalks drain, pour 3 tablespoons of the frying oil into a shallow cazuela or wide pan. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook over low heat for 18 to 22 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft, dark gold, and sweet. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then stir in the pimentón off the heat so it smells warm but does not scorch.

5. 5

   Cook the tomato

   Add the grated tomato, or canned crushed tomato, and return the pan to low heat. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce thickens, darkens, and the raw tomato smell is gone. Taste it. If the tomato is sharp, add the sugar. Stir in 120ml water or light vegetable stock and keep the sauce at the lowest bubble.

6. 6

   Fill the pencas

   Lay 12 chard pieces on a board. Top each with a folded slice of Serrano ham and a thin slice of cheese, keeping the filling inside the edges so it will not leak too much. Cover with the remaining 12 pieces. Press gently. If the stalks are narrow or slippery, secure each one with a toothpick.

7. 7

   Flour and egg

   Put the flour on one plate and the beaten eggs in a shallow bowl. Season the flour lightly with salt and black pepper. Coat each stuffed penca in flour, tap off the excess, then dip it in egg so every edge is covered. Work steadily, not in a rush. The batter is simple, but it has to cover the seams.

8. 8

   Fry until golden

   Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the pencas in batches for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until the coating is set and golden, and the cheese just begins to soften inside. Do not crowd the pan, or the batter steams pale instead of frying. Move each batch to a plate.

9. 9

   Settle in sauce

   Nestle the fried pencas into the tomato sofrito in one layer, spooning a little sauce over the top. Cover loosely and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, just long enough for the batter to drink in the sauce and the filling to warm through. Shake the pan gently by the handles instead of poking at them with a spoon.

10. 10

    Rest and serve

    Take the pan off the heat and let the pencas rest for 10 minutes before serving. They should sit tender in a red, glossy sauce, with the batter softened at the edges and still holding its shape. Serve two or three pieces per person as a first course, with bread for the sauce. Tal como se hace allí: modest, careful, and better than it sounds on paper.

Chef Tips

• •Choose chard with wide, pale stalks at least 4cm across. Thin stalks taste fine, but they are harder to stuff; pair two small pieces and pin them with a toothpick if that is what the market gives you.
• •Do not throw away the leaves. Blanch them and fold them into a tortilla, add them to chickpeas, or chop them into a soup. The whole point of this dish is that the kitchen wastes nothing.
• •Serrano ham is the usual filling. If you cannot find it, use a dry-cured ham that is not sweet and not smoked. The flavor will be less Spanish in the mouth, but the dish still works.
• •Use a cheese that melts but does not run like water. Semi-cured sheep cheese, young Manchego, Havarti, or mild provolone all behave. Very aged cheese stays firm and salty, so slice it thinner.
• •These are better after a rest. Make them in the morning for supper, or the day before, and reheat gently in the sauce. The batter softens, the tomato settles, and the whole pan tastes more like itself.

Advance Preparation

• •The chard stalks can be boiled, drained, and dried up to 24 hours ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator between layers of towel.
• •The tomato sofrito can be made two days ahead and refrigerated. Warm it gently before adding the fried pencas.
• •The finished pencas keep well for one day in the refrigerator. Reheat covered over low heat with a spoonful of water if the sauce has thickened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)