Swiss Chard Mushroom Rice Rolls
Printed from: www.grandmotherskitchen.net
Ingredients
Makes: 12 rolls
12 large Swiss chard leaves
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium sized onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 medium size white mushrooms, washed and chopped
1/4 cup water
3 cups precooked white Basmati rice
1 (398ml) can tomato sauce, we used Hunts
1 cup stewed tomatoes , we used our homemade canned tomatoes
Sour cream, optional but delicious when you are serving
Directions
1. Start by cleaning the Swiss chard. Fill a sink with cold water.
2. Cut off and discard the tough stems of the Swiss chard.
3. Rinse the Swiss chard leaves. We used thieves food and vegetable cleaning spray in the water, you can also use a little vinegar or just wash and rinse well with clean water.
4. Using a very large skillet, fill to about 1/3rd full with water. Bring it to a boil.
5. The Swiss chard leaves need to be blanched (boiled for a minute or so) to soften them enough to make rolling easy.
6. Using a sharp knife, cut the tough spiny stem from the base of the Swiss chard leaves. If the leaves are extra large you can cut them in half lengthwise. Keep in mind you are going to be stuffing and rolling up the leaves to let that be your judge of whether to leave as whole leaves or to cut.
7. Submerse a few leaves at a time into the boiling water.
8. Have ready a large baking dish lined with paper towels beside the boiling water pot as a place to put the cooked leaves.
9. Use tongs with rubber grippers to gently remove each leaf and to lay it flat paper lined prepared pan.
10. Continue this process until all the leaves are softened. These leaves are pretty tender and rip easily.
11. Melt the butter in the skillet on medium heat. Add the chopped onions and sauté for 3-5 minutes until the onions are soft. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the mixture while they are cooking.
12. While the onions are cooking cut the mushrooms into small pieces and when the onions are nicely browned add the mushrooms to the mixture and cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms are soft.
13. Add about 1/4 cup of water to the mixture and continue to cook. Turn off the heat.
14. Add the precooked rice and stir in making sure to break up the rice so there are no clumps. Stir to combine the mixture. Remove the pan from the stove-top and let the filling cool down so you can handle it.
15. To prepare tomato sauce, open the can of tomato sauce and pour into a bowl. Add the stewed tomatoes and stir together.
16. Have ready a ceramic or glass baking dish. Pour about one inch of sauce on the bottom of the dish.
17. Take a Swiss chard leaf and hold it wide open in your hand. Spoon in some mushroom rice mixture, depending on the size of the leaf, one to two tablespoons. Tuck in the end and sides as you rolls the leaves up.
18. Place the rolls side by side into the baking dish.
19. Continue until you have used up all the leaves. If you end up with extra filling, you can put it into a freezer bag and freeze it for eating at another time.
20. When you are done, pour the remaining tomato sauce on top. The tomato sauce gives these rolls a nice flavor when baked and it is nice to use quite a bit of sauce so rolls will not be dry.
21. Put a lid on the baking dish and place into the oven for 30 minutes to bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees F.
22. You can refrigerate until you are ready to bake and serve.
23. These Swiss rolls can also be reheated a second time and make good leftovers.
24. A dollop of sour cream goes very well.
ENJOY!
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