Home » The Lagana Family Cooking Series » SWISS CHARD ROLL

TRAVELLING BACK IN TIME FOR THAT SWISS CHARD ROLL

I’ve pretty much come as close as it gets to travelling back in time this week. I moved back in with my parents!!! Although just for a couple of months while waiting to become an aunt in a few short weeks, being home, home living under the same ol’ roof we’ve lived in for most of our lives with 4/5 Laganas again feels… well, normal. And weird. I got used to the blessings of living alone (I’ve basically had to re-learn what pants are since being here) but it’s always nice to truly feel at home again.

We’ve had a few recipes circulating through the fam for-basically-ever. So, I just knew it only made sense that a LAGANA FAMILY COOKING SERIES was in order during my time here. Now, you should know that my family (although extremely supportive of just about anything and everything I do) is not quite as patient as myself or Bae for that matter (and he really isn’t that patient) so the pictures may also feel like I’m travelling back in time to my noob-noob days. The other thing you should know is that most of these delicious, classic recipes under this series does not fall in line with the way I typically cook or eat. You see, my parents are cold-blooded Italian and they love their fried food!!! So maybe only join us on cheat days 😉 But I promise ya, there’s a reason we’ve kept these recipes around for quite some time and to me, no trip home is complete without ’em!

So, in other words, the Lagana Family Cooking series is where I’ll be sharing my family recipes. Ones we grew up with. Ones Nonna and Nonno always made. And ones we always love eating when we’re together.

TO KICK THINGS OFF: CLASSIC SWISS CHARD ROLL

hand holding up a piece of the freshly baked swiss chard roll showcasing a perfect swirl. behind the hand is the tray with the rest of the cut up roll

We’re gonna roll things out with this SWISS CHARD ROLL (see what I did there). The beauty of this Swiss Chard roll is that once you got the roll down pat, you can pretty much fill it with anything your heart desires! But, we don’t let a Swiss Chard season go by in this house without makin’ at least a few of these bad boys to go around.

I did this one with my dad aka one of Hip Hip Gourmet’s biggest helpers. Well, he did most of the work while I just sat around and took photos. I mean…someone has a blog to run around here! 😉

SWISS CHARD ROLL

Course: Appetizers, Lunch, Snacks, DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium

Servings

rolls

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Total time

hour

minutes

Ways to use Swiss Chard 101.

What You’ll Need

For the Dough
5 cups All Purpose Flour, divided
1 tbsp Active Dry Yeast
2 cups Warm Water
1 tbsp Salt
For the Filling
1 bunch Swiss Chard
5 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions

For the Dough
Mix water and yeast in a bowl and set aside to proof for about 5 minutes. It’s ready when the yeast mostly dissolves and little bubbles form.
In a bowl of a stand mixer (I use my KitchenAid) fitted with the dough hook, add half of the flour (2.5 cups).
Add the proofed yeast and mix on low speed until combined.
Add the salt and remaining flour and knead on low until well combined and smooth.
Cover the bowl tightly with saran wrap and let it rest in a ball for 20 minutes in a warm dark area. (You can place a kitchen towel over it to create this setting).
Sprinkle a clean surface with flour. Remove the dough from the bowl, adding more flour as needed to alleviate the stickiness. Cut the dough in half to form two separate pieces. One at a time, using a rolling pin and extra flour to coat, roll the dough out into thin rectangular shapes – the shapes don’t have to be perfect, just as close as you can get it.
FOR THE FILLING
THE NIGHT BEFORE: Wash the Swiss Chard leaves and pat dry with a paper towel. Using a sharp knife, run it along the stems to peel away any hard fibres. Cut away and bad or tough stems. Chop the Swiss Chard up into small pieces and place it in a container with a tight fitting lid. Sprinkle generously with salt, cover and place it in the fridge overnight.
The next day, squeeze out any liquid from the chard, fistfuls at a time, until no water remains. Place it into a bowl and add the minced garlic, olive oil, chilli flakes, pepper and some more salt to taste. Mix until well combined.
To Assemble
Evenly distribute the Swiss Chard mixture amongst the two rectangular pieces of dough.
One at a time, roll them up – You can pretty much do this however you like…I used a piece of parchment paper to help me. I rolled with the paper on the outside and would slyly pull it out once it was tightly tucked under. Once it is all rolled, use a fork to seal the ends and edges.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Keep checking for desired doneness. Broil the last few minutes. Cut it like you would a log or a loaf and enjoy!

Notes

Prep time does not include overnight time of Swiss Chard staying in the fridge
You can use a dough whisk or your hands if you don’t have a mixer
You can fill the roll with anything you want once you have the dough and technique down!