Recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi
Adapted by Ligaya Mishan
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- 4(63)
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 appetizer servings
- 3cups sorrel leaves
- ½cup Greek yogurt
- 1garlic clove, crushed
- 3tablespoons olive oil
- ½teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Salt
- pepper
- 1¼pounds Swiss chard
- ⅓cup pine nuts
- 4ounces kashkaval cheese (or pecorino, coarsely grated
- 1egg
- 6tablespoons dried white bread crumbs
- Mixture of vegetable oil and olive oil, for frying
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
787 calories; 72 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 43 grams monounsaturated fat; 12 grams polyunsaturated fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 20 grams protein; 854 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the sauce: In a food processor or a blender, place sorrel, yogurt, garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, the mustard and salt to taste; process until it is bright green. Taste and add salt, if desired. Refrigerate until needed.
Step
2
Cut woody white stalks from chard leaves. Bring a large pan of water to boil. Add the stalks and simmer for 4 minutes. Then add the leaves, stir and continue simmering for 3 minutes. Drain the chard and allow to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much water as possible. Chop leaves and stalks roughly and put in a medium bowl.
Step
3
In a small skillet, fry pine nuts in 1 tablespoon olive oil for 1 minute, or until light brown. Add nuts and oil to the chard, followed by the cheese, egg, bread crumbs, ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. If mixture is very soft and sticky, add more crumbs.
Step
4
Pour enough frying oil into a large skillet to come ¼ inch up the sides. Shape chard mixture into eight patties roughly 2 inches in diameter and ⅝-inch thick. Fry them for about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Place on paper towels to absorb oil. Serve warm or at room temperature, with sauce on the side.
Ratings
4
out of 5
63
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Cooking Notes
Joan
This is a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe from his book Plenty. I don't bother with the breadcrumbs but you do need to squeeze the chard until no water comes out. Sorrel can be hard to find so I often make the sauce with parsley. It is delicious!
Mike
I have an allergy to pine nuts. What's a good substitute for this? Thanks in advance for any help!
Kate
Such a divide in the opinions on this recipe! I'm making it in the first week's if fall (maybe) and it's divine. But if you're expecting summery (who wouldn't, what with all that Sorrel and chard!) no, it's not that. It doesn't work the way I thought. I assumed the egg and crumbs were the binder but as it's cooking its actually the *cheese* that finally holds it together, so if it's a little crumbly, throw it in the pan and then don't touch it - let the cheese caramelize and bind.
Wendy
Not great. The cakes were oily and heavy and didn't feel summery, didn't highlight the taste of the chard. Felt like a waste of nice summer chard. Am saving the leftover sorrel sauce to mix with rice for a rice bowl.
Oksana
A tasty use of the chard and sorrel growing in my garden. I found that I needed two eggs to bind everything together, otherwise my patties fell apart in the pan. Pretty quick to assemble and make! Very savory tasting for a vegetarian dish.
Mary
I found this while looking for a sorrel sauce for salmon that's not so rich as others on this site. The chard cake thingies are too much work for my 60 y.o. self but let me tell you that this sauce is out of this world. Note: I used a large-ish clove of garlic because there is no such thing as too much garlic, I feel, but it actually overwhelmed the sorrel and next time I will use only part of a clove.
EW
I made these last night, and they were just ok. It felt like a lot of work, and then kinda messy with the frying. They were tasty, and certainly a nice way to use chard, but I probably won't bother with them again. Reminds me a bit of Indian pakoras, which I think I ultimately prefer.
Laura
I cooked this last night with the (almost) final crop of swiss chard and sorrel from my garden. Used locatelli for the cheese, half the bread crumbs, and added some chopped spinach because I was worried it wouldn't be enough. I made them smaller than suggested, more like the size of the zucchini fritters from another recipe on this site. They came out great and I think the remaining sorrel sauce would be great on many other things - even on a hamburger. Enjoy!
Lisa
I make these all the time also, yes the greens, nuts and cheese are all interchangeable. I usually use sunflower seeds. Mostly I don't make the sorrel sauce out of laziness, but it's very quick in the food processor. Sorrel is a wonderful thing to have in the garden or a pot as its perennial and will grow almost year round. The sauce IS delicious. Plain yogurt on top is good also, or nothing at all. I chop the greens before cooking. I'm not a big chard fan, but love this.
Lorna
These are delicious! I make them all the time. I must admit, I rarely make the sorrel sauce because I don't have time. They are good with no sauce or with a dollop of Greek yogurt. I sometimes sub in walnuts for the pine nuts and trade out cheeses depending on what I have on hand. Yum!
elle
Best way to squeeze water out (first, don't chop TOO fine) is to use a lint free (obviously, clean) dishtowel. Put all the greens into it while the towel is on your cutting board. Fold towel into thirds, lengthwise, around the greens, then lift and twist gently. You'll be astounded at the amount of liquid that oozes out this way. If done right, the towel will be sopping.
Joan
This is a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe from his book Plenty. I don't bother with the breadcrumbs but you do need to squeeze the chard until no water comes out. Sorrel can be hard to find so I often make the sauce with parsley. It is delicious!
Laura
I am growing sorrel AND chard - last harvest of the season. Making this tonight, and thanks for the note about the bread crumbs! (we are on no carb and not using them right now.)
Lorna
I love these, though I skip the sorrel sauce. I make them all the time and vary the greens, nuts, and cheese depending on what I have on hand. Delicious!
Mary Ann
This was terrible tasting. I threw everything away before I finished frying all of the cakes. I have a hard time believing that someone tasted this before posting.
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