Potatoes and Swiss chard

By Fernando Rodriguez Villegas

Many years ago after an invited seminar talk at ISTA in Vienna we went with my host Tamas Hausel and some of his group for dinner to a Croatian restaurant. I had fish I think and a side dish of potatoes and chard, which I really loved. I have been trying to reproduce it from memory ever since. I found out later (while on vacation in Lussinpicolo) that it is actually a standard traditional dish in Croacia known as blitva (which simply means chard). The following is my elaboration on the basic theme.

1

Start by peeling and cutting up into small cubes three medium size potatoes

2

Cut off the stems from the Swiss chard (I also added some leaves from a local variety)

3

Heat a medium size pan (7.5/10 in my induction stove) and put in the potatoes. It’s OK if they get stuck a bit to the bottom of the pan but stir with a wooden spatula to keep them moving. A brown layer will form. About 5’. Make sure the potatoes dry up.

4

Add a fair amount of olive oil and let the potatoes fry for another 5' or so, always stirring and not letting them get stuck to the bottom of the pan too long. Boil water in a kettle.

5

Add the boiling water to the potatoes, to a level a bit higher than to covering them.

6

Let the potatoes cook for another 5’-10’ and then add the Swiss chard cut up in small chunks. Add more boiling water if necessary.

7

Cut some cheese in little cubes and add to the mix. (I prefer a sharp flavored cow-milk cheese for this.)

8

Now it’s a matter of balance on how much more time to cook the dish and this can get tricky.

Ideally the chard should be soft, the potatoes should keep some sturdiness but they should also contribute to make the dish creamy, the cheese should be completely melted away and the overall consistency should not be too soupy or too hard. It is important to regulate well how much boiling water to add during the whole process (like in a risotto) to get the right result.

Add (kosher) salt, pepper, some olive oil and stir well. As a final touch, add the zest of one lemon (or alternatively, the juice of half a lemon).