Caponata stuffed chard & panicky vegetables

There’s a sense of panic coming from the vegetables this week, and making great vats of something approaching caponata is the only way I know to help.

There’s a sense of panic coming from the vegetables this week.

A sort of hurried, last-minute fretfulness about not having got everything done before time runs out. The Summer crops – tomatoes, courgettes, beans – must sense that Autumn is near and their days are numbered, so are desperately producing as much fruit as possible to ensure their legacy. (It’s possible I’m attributing more cognitive capacity to a courgette plant than is really likely, but this is certainly how it feels to the onlooker). This bustling productivity from the summer crops has spread too, rubbing off on the chard which has become triffid-like this past week as if in moral support.

It all needs picking.

And the best support I can offer these flustered vegetables, I think, is to focus on batch cooking them in volume. So this week, a recipe that can be made in bulk and frozen to deploy in all sorts of situations from toast to stuffing (as here) to pasta.

Paid subscribers will find more recipes that use the caponata filling in this week’s Extra Helping which is after the PDF recipe card below…

Caponata stuffed chard

I recommend big chard leaves for wrapping, thick stems removed for better rolling. The caponata stuffing is very adaptable, so if you have aubergines to hand (which feature in the traditional Sicilian dish), or other summer squash besides courgettes, then sling these in the roasting tray too. You could even get away with a few peppers if you have them.

Serves 2

• 500g tomatoes

• 500g courgettes

• 2 red onions

• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 40g green olives, pitted and roughly chopped

• 40g sultanas

• 1 tbsp capers, roughly chopped

• 30g pine nuts

• Small bunch basil, chopped

• ½  tbsp balsamic vinegar

• 4 big chard leaves

• Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

Halve the tomatoes, cut the courgettes into 2cm chunks, quarter the red onions and cut into wedges. Bundle everything into a roasting tin, drizzle over three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for 40 minutes. Give it a toss and a turn halfway. The veg should be really concentrated and reduced, so if it feels a bit watery, roast for another 10 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven and add the olives, sultanas, capers, pine nuts, basil and vinegar. Check the seasoning and set aside to cool.

Remove the fat stems from the base of chard. Lay one of the chard leaves out and pile a quarter of the tomato mixture into the middle of the chard leaf and roll it up, tucking in the edges as you go. Like this:

Place the parcel, seam side down into a baking dish and repeat with the other three leaves. The parcels should fit snuggly into the dish. Drizzle everything with the remaining tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Turn the oven up to 210C and roast the parcels for 20 mins until chard is crispy on top.

The caponata filling is a useful starting point for many more dishes. Paid subscribers can scroll down for more recipe ideas in this week’s Extra Helping, and, as ever, the printer-friendly PDF of the stuffed chard recipe…