Turkey and Swiss Chard Dolma with Red Pepper Puree

One of the items I picked up at the farmers market was some Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard.  The only way I've ever had swiss chard was sauteed and I wanted something different.  I scoured the internet and came up with several recipes using spinach that I thought would work well for the chard as the leaves were more tender than typical spinach leaves.  All of those recipes involved pasta and since I plan on having pasta for dinner tomorrow, I didn't want to include pasta in this meal.  So I had to go look in my pantry and see what I had on hand that I could pair with the swill chard in a new and different way.  I had a jar of roasted red peppers that I really wanted to use and I had some ground turkey.  So I thought maybe a turkey meatloaf using the chard inside the meatloaf similar to turkey and spinach meatballs.  That got me thinking of using the chard to wrap the mini meatloaves.  This turned out really well.  The chard was very green tasting which paired well with the mildness of the turkey, the sharpness of the green onion and the sweet/bitterness of the red pepper puree.

Turkey and Swiss Chard Dolma with Red Pepper Puree

Serves 2

printable recipe

Turkey Filling Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey

3 stalks green onions, diced

1 whole roasted red pepper, diced

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

1 bunch swiss chard leaves, stems removed and blanched

Red Pepper Puree Ingredients:

1 whole roasted red pepper, diced

1/2 cup white onion, diced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chicken stock

1 pinch red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Mix all the turkey ingredients together and form into mini loaves.  Wrap in blanched chard leaves.

3. Bake in oven for 30 to 45 minutes until done.

4. Meanwhile heat olive oil in a small saucepan.

5. Add the onions and saute until transparent.

6. Add the diced red pepper, tomato paste and garlic and continue cooking for about 5 minutes.

7. Add the chicken stock, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and puree with an immersion blender.

8. Reduce heat and allow to reduce to a thick puree.

9. Serve and enjoy.