Ricotta chard dumplings with egg noodles

By now, you’ve likely heard of the Meatless Monday campaign. It’s the decision that everyone from Oprah to Michael Pollan has decided to take on, where a meatless dinner is eaten once a week for health and environmental benefits. Perhaps you’d like to try out the idea but have a hard time thinking of a meal without the traditional plate of big protein, small grain and small vegetable.

 Whether or not you care about this way of eating or you’re just trying to enjoy more vegetables, this recipe is a quick way to add some green to your meal: Simply wrap a large leafy green around a filling, and serve it over noodles (or rice, if you prefer). The meal takes minutes to prepare and can easily be tweaked to your preferences; freshly chopped parsley or cilantro would be a nice addition to the ricotta, or perhaps beans and salsa for a Mexican-style dinner.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup of ricotta
• 1 tablespoon of chives
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest (Meyer if you can find it)
• 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 leaves of any kind of chard (or other sturdy greens like kale)
• 8 oz whole-wheat egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan
• Finishing salt (or regular salt if that’s what you have)
• Pepper

Method

Place the ricotta in a small bowl. Chop the chives and place them in the bowl along with the zest, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to your liking. Mix and set the bowl aside.

Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt and make your noodles according to the package directions. When the noodles are done, use a slotted spoon to remove them into a strainer (save the boiling water).

Then, put one leaf into the boiling water. Count to 60 and remove with tongs, laying it flat on a clean workspace. Repeat this process with all of the leaves (if you used a big saucepan, you may be able to do two at once). Once all the leaves are cool, make your dumplings.

To make a dumpling, take one leaf and lay it flat on a cutting board. Put one-quarter cup of the ricotta mixture in the center. Bring up the bottom part of the leaf and hold secure with one hand. Then, fold in the right and left sides towards the middle. Roll the bottom upwards until all of the ricotta is covered (do this the same way you would roll a burrito).

Repeat this process with all the leaves until you have four dumplings. Dress the hot pasta with butter and Parmesan, and top with two dumplings per person. Serve with the remaining chard sautéed in garlic and olive oil, or a salad topped with vinegar.