Tagliatelle with rainbow chard, pine nuts and Gruyère cheese

A warming dish that embraces and satiates you, without being heavy

Published originally on my blog on 11 October 2015

Lately I’ve been cooking with all sorts of colorful ingredients. Exhibit no1, rainbow chard. Isn’t it amazing?

Those bright, vibrant, psychedelic colors are stunning and kind of weird when you realize you’ll end up eating them. This chard in particular was organic and thus more colorful, but it also came with its own little creatures. You know, those little green bugs that I had to “exterminate” i.e. rinse away, as soon as I came home, in plenty of running water.

While I customarily use chard in Greek pies or with rice to make seskoulorizo, this time I thought of using them in a pasta dish. S loves pasta, so naturally I have become an expert on inventing pasta dishes, especially those containing vegetables.

The combination of pasta and vegetables without heavy, cream sauces is for me ideal since I prefer light pasta dishes. With such dishes, the selection of cheese plays a major role. There’s not only Parmigiano or Pecorino out there, you know; there are so many flavorful cheeses with robust flavors and interesting textures that can elevate even the simplest pasta dish. In this case, I opted for Gruyère that’s slightly sweet, nutty, earthy and salty, and as it slowly melts over the piping hot pasta it has a wonderfully creamy texture.

With the soft bitterness of the sautéed chard, the earthy notes and crunch of pine nuts, the soft heat of garlic and freshness of lemon, the dish has an autumnal feel to it. It’s a warming dish that embraces and satiates you, without being heavy; perfect for these autumnal days.

Tagliatelle with rainbow chard, pine nuts and Gruyère

As with all my pasta recipes with vegetables, there is no sauce per se, but a light “sauce” is created from the chard and pasta cooking liquids, along of course with the olive oil. The starch in the pasta water helps to bind the “sauce” and together with the creamy Gruyère you have a beautiful resulting texture.

The rainbow chard leaked its colors onto the tagliatelle which came as a pleasant surprise. Some of them became reddish, other yellowish.