One of the many things I learned about Swiss Chard last year is that it is very garden hearty, and also a biennial. That means that when I plant seeds in April, I get chard all season long from that one seed. No lie. I had chard anytime I wanted by heading out to the garden, which ended up great for me, since I found out how much I loved the stuff. As a biennial, there is a very good chance that as the ground warms up here, my chard will spring to life, rewarding me with fresh spring greens! Shortly after that, the chard will flower and be done, but in the meantime, I am so excited to think that in just a few short weeks, we could be picking tender young chard leaves to add to our salad. When they are young and tender,they are absolutely delicious in salads. When the leaves are older and more tough, they are perfect for sauteing and using in dishes like I made the other day.
Skillet Gnocchi with Chard and White Beans caught my attention the first day I flipped through my January issue of Eating Well magazine. I kind of mentally filed it away, but it was brought back to my attention recently by several bloggers who made it. I thought about the fact that I have one quart package of chopped frozen chard in the freezer, and that we really should use it up before the new fresh chard begins arriving, and I decided to go ahead and try this dish out. I also decided to follow the lead of Culinary in The Country and use chickpeas instead of white beans. For my final, minor change to the recipe, I also used a can of stewed Italian tomatoes, instead of just the diced Italian tomatoes. Hey, it’s what I had on hand.
This recipe came together really, really quickly and easily. Even better- it truly is a one-pot dish. I used one pot from start to finish, only I dumped it out onto a serving bowl before serving it. The final step in the recipe is to sprinkle on some Mozzarella for a few minutes to get all melty and gooey. I decided to just sprinkle it on after dumping the mixture into my serving bowl, and that worked just fine. There was plenty of heat to get the cheese melty. And while I do think you could leave off the cheese, I also think it added something. In case anyone is looking for it, I found the shelf stable gnocchi at Sam’s Club in a 3-pack, and it worked very well for this dish. Andy and I both loved it, and the kids even took a few bites of the gnocchi. Not so much of the beans and chard, but the did try at least. With one more package of gnocchi lying around, and the other half of the package of chard,this one may be repeated very soon.
Skillet Gnocchi With Chard and White Beans
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 16-ounce package shelf-stable gnocchi 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup water 6 cups chopped chard leaves (about 1 small bunch) or spinach 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings 1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheeseDirections:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add gnocchi and cook, stirring often, until plumped and starting to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and onion to the pan and cook, stirring, over medium heat, for 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and water. Cover and cook until the onion is soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add chard (or spinach) and cook, stirring, until starting to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans and pepper and bring to a simmer. Stir in the gnocchi and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover and cook until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, about 3 minutes.