Beef and Swiss Chard Lasagna

When Joe saw the beautiful rainbow swiss chard in our CSA bag I know the first thing he wanted to do was wilt it down, add some spices and he would be good to go. On second thought, knowing my aversion to greens, he wisely chose to instead add the swiss chard to a lasagna that we had already been planning to make during the week. 

Whenever my boyfriend goes home to his beloved Vermont, he's lucky enough to be able to buy delicious grass-fed beef from his uncle's farm. After a few months the only beef we have left is the ground beef and lasagna has become one of our go-to recipes.

Joe's meat sauce is one of my favorite things that he makes. I could eat the sauce by itself for an entire meal. It never tastes exactly the same, but it's always just as good as the last time.

Joe's Meat Sauce (this time)
1.5 lbs ground beef
2 small or 1 large onion (diced)
3 garlic cloves
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
1.5- 2 c. red wine
fresh oregano

In a large, deep saucepan, brown the ground beef then drain. Add the onions, garlic, and saute until softened. Add the tomatoes, red wine, and oregano (about a handful). Simmer for at least an hour (we like to simmer for 2).

Ricotta Mixture
32 oz. ricotta cheese
1 bunch of swiss chard (chiffonade aka roll and cut in to long thin strips)
3 eggs
salt/pepper/nutmeg

Mix all of the ingredients together, with a salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. In a 13x9 glass dish put a little meat sauce on the bottom and then cover with uncooked lasagna noodles. Traditionally lasagna has a layer of noodles, a layer of ricotta, a layer of meat sauce, a layer of ricotta and then more noodles. We like to separate the meat sauce and ricotta mixture but having noodles, then ricotta, then noodles again, followed by a layer of meat sauce, and noodles again. Bake about 45 minutes at 350 degrees covered with aluminum foil, then take the foil off and brown for 15 minutes.

The lasagna was nice and crispy on top and delicious in the middle. The red sauce complemented the chard well. It works perfectly for adding a little green to the normally carb-heavy lasagna. I'm sure it would work well with any greens such as kale, beet greens, collard greens, and spinach as well. Cheers!