Capuns
capuns
Swiss chard rolls from Graubünden filled with spätzle-like dough, herbs, and often dried meat, then cooked in broth or cream.
About this dish
Capuns is a specialty of Graubünden in Switzerland, wrapping a flour-and-egg filling in chard leaves. Herbs and cured meat reflect regional household cooking, with broth or cream used to finish the parcels.
Recipe
Graubünden capuns in creamy broth
- 20 large Swiss chard leaves, thick stalks removed
Filling
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 100 ml milk
- 50 ml water
- 100 g salsiz or firm cured beef sausage, diced
- 50 g cured ham, diced
- 1 onion (80 g), minced
- 20 g butter
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1 tbsp chives
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Sauce
- 400 ml broth
- 200 ml cream
- 50 g grated mountain cheese
- 1
Filling: 250 g all-purpose flour; 2 eggs; 100 ml milk; plus the remaining ingredients listed for this component. Mix flour, eggs, milk, water and filling seasoning into a thick batter; rest 20 minutes. Whisk the liquids before gradually adding flour. Beat out lumps; the batter should be thick enough to mound on a leaf. Cover during the rest.
- 2
Soften onion in butter; cool and fold into batter with cured meats and herbs. Use moderate heat until onion is translucent and cool before mixing into the egg batter. Finely dice cured meats so they distribute evenly and do not pierce the leaf.
- 3
Blanch chard leaves 30 seconds, cool and dry. Add about 1 tbsp filling to each, fold sides inward and roll into compact parcels. Cut away thick chard stalks and blanch only until leaves bend easily. Cool in clean cold water and pat dry. Fold sides over the filling before rolling so it cannot escape at the ends.
- 4
Place seam down in a wide pan, add broth and cream and simmer covered 15-20 minutes, until filling is cooked. Sprinkle cheese over to finish. Arrange parcels in one layer if possible, seams down. Keep a quiet simmer so cream does not scorch or parcels unroll. Cut a test parcel to check the filling is fully set, with no wet flour-egg center, then add the measured cheese.
Note
The first source page is too thin; the other two ground the chard-wrapped batter technique. Remove thick stalks so leaves fold without splitting.