Swiss Chard & Sourdough Pane Cotto
What is pane cotto, anyway?
Pane cotto, or cooked bread as it literally translates, is one of my favorite meals that my mother makes. Traditionally prepared with escarole, stale Italian bread, white beans and sometimes sausage, it came together quickly and fed child me happily for dinner, and often for lunch the next day. I was the kind of child that inhaled most green vegetables (an addendum on that in a second), though delicious cubes of bread and cheese probably didn’t hurt here. This recipe is a wonderful solution for stale bread and requires little more than a bunch of fresh greens and some ingredients you probably have in the pantry.
In this version
This version is vegetarian and substitutes Swiss chard for escarole, one of the few vegetables I definitely was not into as a child. Alas, tastes change, but we still crave the old favorites. I use a mix whole wheat sourdough bread—you could save the ends of your homemade sourdough and cut them into cubes and store them in the freezer. When you accumulate enough, you can make this dish! Or use any hearty bread, but not sandwich bread; it isn’t sturdy enough to be dried out and then reintroduced to liquid. The magic here is something Bon Appétit magazine has coined “Crispy-Gone-Soggy” or CGS, as they abbreviate it. The bread, whether stale or not, gets baked up as croutons until crisp and then gets tossed with the silky greens and beans, allowing it to reabsorb the flavor of the dish. I find sourdough is especially up for the job here if you want to store this for leftovers, which I say go for, because it’s still great the next day.
A note on the cheese
If you didn’t use cheese, the dish would be vegan. And I would be like, that’s cool, good for you! But if you do use cheese (and I do condone the use of cheese, almost always) use the good stuff and be generous. Greens and bread and beans love cheese, and that’s how my mom makes it.
Swiss Chard & Sourdough Pane Cotto
Ingredients
- 5 cups of sourdough bread cut into 1-inch cube croutons*
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided into two portions
- 1 cup diced white or yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch of Swiss chard, coarsely chopped (about 6 loosely packed cups)
- 1 15 oz can of white cannellini beans, drained
- 1 cup vegetable stock, or water
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese, plus more for serving
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with 1/4 cup olive oil. Spread onto a sheet pan large enough to hold cubes in a single layer, and bake until dry and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Toss croutons and rotate the pan halfway through baking.
- While croutons are baking, heat the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onions and a generous pinch of kosher salt and cook until softened but not browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and continue to cook until garlic begins to brown. Add the Swiss chard and sauté until wilted, about 5 minutes.
- Add stock or water along with beans, and simmer for 5 minutes until liquid is slightly reduced but not completely evaporated.
- Add the croutons and 1/2 cup cheese and toss thoroughly to combine with the greens and beans. Taste for seasoning and add any additional salt and black pepper, if desired. Place pan in the oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbling. Serve immediately or at room temperature.
Notes:
Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
*Stale bread will dry out and brown more quickly than fresh bread, so keep an eye on the oven to prevent burning but make sure you thoroughly dry out the croutons.
Calories
636.00Fat (grams)
31.67Sat. Fat (grams)
5.89Carbs (grams)
69.50Fiber (grams)
10.55Net carbs
58.94Sugar (grams)
9.03Protein (grams)
21.92Sodium (milligrams)
866.58Cholesterol (grams)
10.40
