With the help of this classy feast-throwing vegetarian named Lukas, you’re gonna feel great from the very start of 2014.
Let's say that you're sick of eating. This sounds impossible, but after a month of turkey, gravy, and rich casseroles followed by a month of hams and cookies, it happens. So what in the world to eat for New Year's Eve?! Certainly not more meat. We all have some torturous dieting plan that we'll "start in January." Why not ease into that plan? This menu will help; it's satisfying but also healthy in the way that doesn't make you feel like you're punishing yourself.
The recipes come from a new digital magazine/app called Feast By Lukas! It was created by Lukas Volger, an appealing, talented cook who throws the kind of dinner parties we all wish we could pull off and is sharing his most successful menus in this quarterly app. This holiday edition is his first; it's $3.99, and if you want access to the other three feasts as he rolls them out, it's $13.99.
Near Year's Eve Dinner:
Lukas Volger
Recipe by Lukas Volger
This gorgeous parcel is a perfect vegetarian main dish. It's gone through a few iterations over the years, but it's based originally on a recipe in Annie Sommerville's terrific cookbook Fields of Greens. I serve it often at holiday dinners — or any kind of dinner party, really — and it's always a hit because it's so classically rich and filling, beautiful to behold, and keeps its meatlessness pretty quiet. For entertaining purposes, it's a helpful dish to keep in your repertoire, since it can be made up to a day in advance, then put in the oven just before it's time to eat.
Serves 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS
2 bunches Swiss chard (about 1.5 pounds) 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces sliced mushrooms (crimini, button, shiitake, or a combination)
Scant 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
2 eggs
8 ounces ricotta (about 1 cup)
Zest of 1 lemon
9 filo sheets, 14 inches by 18 inches
4 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 ounces crumbled feta (about 1/2 cup)
PREPARATION
Trim the stems from the chard and reserve half of them. Finely chop the reserved stems and roughly chop the leaves.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chard leaves, a big pinch of salt, and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 3 or 4 minutes. If the pan seems dry, add a splash of water. Transfer the wilted greens to a colander to drain and cool. Grab the greens in handfuls and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Finely chop the chard and set aside.
Wipe out the skillet, return it to the heat, and add another tablespoon olive oil. Add the onion, chopped chard stems, and a big pinch salt. Cook the onions and stems are until softened and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add half the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl.
Wipe out the skillet, and return it to the heat. Turn the heat up slightly, to medium-high. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet and then add the mushrooms and a big pinch of salt. Sauté the mushrooms until they release their juices and it begins to cook off, 7 to 9 minutes. Add the pepper flakes and remaining garlic and stir until fragrant. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon, and continue cooking until the pan is mostly dry. Transfer the mushrooms to the bowl with the onion. Add the parsley and several grinds of black pepper. Stir to combine.
Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat lightly. Whisk in the ricotta, then fold in the chard, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and several grinds of black pepper.
Note: The next two steps sound complicated but they're not. Essentially you're simply brushing the centers of the layers of filo with melted butter, spreading the fillings inside, and wrapping the whole thing into a square-shaped parcel.
Unfold the filo on a cutting board and cover with a clean towel to prevent it from drying out. Spread a piece of parchment out on a work surface. Lay a sheet of filo on the parchment and, using a pastry brush, draw and fill an 8-by-8-inch square with the melted butter in the center. Lay another piece of filo over it, but rotated 90 degrees so that the rectangles crisscross. Brush the same 8-inch square with butter. Lay another piece of filo over, rotating it 90 degrees, and brush the 8-inch square with butter. Repeat this process, rotating the filo sheets and brushing the butter, with 5 more pieces of the filo. Scoop the ricotta mixture into the center and then spread to cover the 8-inch square. Top with the mushroom-onion mixture, spreading evenly, then sprinkle with the feta.
Now, working layer by layer, use the exposed, excess filo to fold over back over the fillings and seal them up. Fold the top layer of filo over the filling and brush with butter, gently tugging at the filo so that the edges overlap and seal over the fillings, as if you're wrapping a present. Repeat with remaining 7 layers. Lay the final, reserved sheet over the top so that you have a smooth, clean surface, and tuck the excess underneath the cake. Brush all over with what's left of the butter. Slide the filo and parchment onto a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Refrigerate for at least 10 to 15 minutes (and up to 1 day) to firm up the butter. Then, using a long, sharp knife, score the cake — by cutting only through the top filo sheets — into 8 wedges. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the filo is golden brown all over. Let stand for 10 minutes on a cooling rack, then slice into wedges and serve hot.
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