Another influx of chard challenged us to come up with not only one dish, but two: one using the actual greens, and the other using the stems. We like to separate them because of their different textures, flavors, and cooking requirements.

Our bounty of chard was accompanied by the arrival of our potted tomato plant’s harvest, so we hoped to make something that could incorporate the sharp flavor of a homegrown tomato.

Lately, our cravings have leaned towards pasta dishes, so we adapted a linguine, spinach and gorgonzola recipe from Cooking Light 2004 to suit our circumstances.

It’s been too hot to grow spinach here in the Mesilla Valley for over a month now, but Swiss chard is holding on. Not for long, though. The summer heat’s getting to be too much for the chard as well, so we might be making our last Swiss chard dishes until the fall. Let’s make the most of it while it’s here!

4 servings

• 1 C dry penne, cooked al dente
• 1 1/2 lbs Swiss chard, stems removed (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 12 oz can evaporated milk (we substituted with powdered milk, making it twice as concentrated)
• 4 oz Gorgonzola cheese (or blue cheese)
• 2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced (our source: a farm in Mesquite, NM)
• 1 tomato (our source: our container garden)
• 1/2 tsp fresh basil, finely chopped (our source: Mysterious Horizons Farm)
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Steam or boil the chard. (We usually boil ours, sometimes twice, with salt and white vinegar to minimize bitterness.) Drain and set aside.

2. Sauté onion and garlic in 1/2 tbsp butter over medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook for approximately 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk.

4. Slowly pour in milk, continue stirring. Turn heat up to medium-high, bring mixture to boil and continue stirring. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

5. Remove from heat, stir in cheese, salt, pepper, tomato, basil, onion and garlic. Toss with pasta. Then add chard (so that the noodles get evenly coated with sauce before the chard can soak it up).

Gorgonzola is usually pretty strong by itself, but when it’s cooked and part of a sauce, the flavor mellows out a lot. Also, it becomes slightly grainy, resembling Ricotta. So if you prefer a sauce with a smoother texture and a more pronounced cheese flavor, you can substitute the Gorgonzola with a combination of Fontina for smoothness and Parmesan for flavor. Try it, and let us know how it turns out!