Chard Kalitsunia
Featured in the article: Vegan Greek Menu
Typically, I make kalitsunia with ricotta or other cheeses, but as a kid it was equally common to find them made with greens and no cheese. Most likely wild greens, onions, and fennel. Since I don’t have a mountain hillside to wander and pick tender seasonal greens I made these with chard, leeks, fennel, and added currents for a touch of sweetness, and to help soak up the extra liquid that the chard gives off. The filling and dough can be made a day ahead. Assemble the kalitsunia shortly before frying them, I know from experience that the longer they sit uncooked the more difficult they can be to fry. However, they don’t need to be served hot, they are great room temperature, so you can cook them earlier in the day. There are no eggs or other ingredients that make these highly perishable so they are perfect to take on a picnic.
Photo by: Don Doblados
Filling:
2 T olive oil
1 leek, quartered and sliced (white part only)
1 fennel bulb, quartered and sliced
Two bunches Swiss chard, washed, stems removed, coarsely chopped
¼ cup water or broth
3 T currents
2 T finely chopped dill
1 t salt
generous pinch red pepper flakes
juice of half a lemon
Dough:
2 C flour
1 t salt
1/3 C olive oil
Enough water to form a dough (about 1/3 cup)
1 ½ C olive oil for frying
First make the dough since it can rest while you’re making the filling. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times to combine. Add the olive oil and process until the olive oil is incorporated into the flour. With the machine running add water until the dough just holds together. Remove the dough from the bowl of the food processor, knead several times so that the dough is smooth and holds together. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit room temperature while you make the filling. Allowing the dough to rest makes the dough easier to use.
To make the filling, place the olive oil in a large skillet over a high heat. Add the leeks and fennel and sauté until the vegetables are lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes. Add the chard and water or broth, currents, salt and pepper flakes and cook until the chard is wilted. Remove from the pan and allow to cool to room temperature. If there is excess liquid in the chard mixture drain it. Add the dill and lemon juice and mix well.
When ready to fry the kalitsunia cut the dough into four pieces. Keep the pieces covered in plastic, remove one piece and roll it on a lightly floured board as thin as you can. Place one rounded spoonful of the filling on the bottom third of the dough and fold the dough over the filling. Using a pastry wheel cut the dough into a half moon shape, crimp the edges with a fork and place on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper or parchment. Using the same piece of dough, make another kalitsunia. The challenge is to get so good at this you can get at least three kalitsunia off of each strip of rolled dough, but making two is respectable as well! Save the scraps since once all the scraps are collected you’ll be able to get another two or three kalitsunia out of the scraps.
Once all the kalitsunia have been rolled, place the olive oil in a large skillet over a high heat. When the olive oil is hot enough to make tiny bubbles around the handle of a wooden spoon when inserted into the oil, gently ease the kalitsunia into the pan. I typically fry about 4 at a time, you don’t want to crowd them because they won’t fry evenly. Fry until golden on one side (about 2 minutes), flip and fry until golden on the other. Place on a paper towel lined cookie sheet to drain before serving.
Makes about 10 kalitsunia.
