I’ve been really enjoying my veggie subscription bag from EatFresh, and I’ve been working on a bunch of recipes using what I get sent each week.

When I first received chard in my veggie bag, I was at a loss as to what to do. I’d eaten it, but I’d never cooked with it before.

This dish, is packed full of veggies and cheese, so it can be had as a main, or as a side dish, depending how many people you want to feed with the recipe.

You can purchase all of the vegetables needed for this dish on the EatFresh website, as well as lemons (which are zested in this recipe).

If you want to make this dish vegetarian-friendly, just omit the bacon and find a vegetarian Parmesan alternative.

Big thank you The Salt Box for the crumble top recipe!

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 leek, trimmed and finely sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme, tied in a bundle
2 garlic cloves, minced
500g chard leaves, roughly chopped
100g Parmesan cheese, grated (or vegetarian alternative)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
zest of 1 lemon
250g ricotta
6 rashers of bacon, roughly chopped (optional)
salt
pepper
For the topping:
2 slices sourdough
2 garlic cloves
3 tbsp fresh parsley
20ml olive oil
zest of 1/2 lemon
zest of 1/2 orange
1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion, leek, thyme and a pinch of salt. Sauté the vegetables until they are soft and translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the chard and garlic cloves and cook for a few more minutes.
3. Add the cooked vegetables into a large bowl, except for the thyme, mix in the Parmesan, lemon zest and nutmeg, along with salt and pepper. Add the ricotta, and stir through gently.
4. Add the vegetable and ricotta mix into an oven-safe dish. Sprinkle the bacon over the vegetable mix. Bake for 35 minutes.
5. Meanwhile for the topping, in a food processor, blitz the sourdough, garlic, parsley, lemon and orange zest, and chilli flakes into breadcrumbs.
6. Add olive oil to a frying pan, or skillet, over a low heat. Spread the breadcrumb mix into the pan and fry until golden and crisp.
7. 10 minutes before the vegetable mix is cooked through, sprinkle the fried breadcrumbs over the top, Bake for the final 10 minutes.
8. Serve warm.