Beef Stuffed Chard with Marinara and Gorgonzola

When life gets complicated and intense I like to focus on the things that make me happy and one of those things obviously is cooking.  The other thing that helps me on days like today is now reminiscing about our fun adventure in Europe, so I will continue on with the stories!  After Dijon we went to Paris for 5 days.  The place that we stayed ended up being nice once we got in but boy was that an ordeal just trying to get the keys.  To make a long story short the owner of the apartment has a cleaning guy who then also hands off the keys to the guests and he was definitely up to something sketchy.  He told us all these stories once in person and once over the phone as to why we couldn't get into our apartment at the original time...anyway 4 hours later we finally did get in and had a moment to rest.  The building also had really steep stairs as you can see in one of the pictures below.  That night we went on an adventure around town and stopped at a couple fun and hospitable bars but while we were walking around I found the funniest barber shop ad (pictured below).  The next day before we really began our adventures we ate breakfast at this cute little corner bar and I had thin rye toast with jambon, fromage, and tomates (pictured below) and it was amazing!  Speaking of food last night I adapted this recipe and it was so very tasty and healthy too!

Serve 2-3

The Ingredients

1 pound 90%-lean ground beef

1/4 cup almond flour

1/2 cup onion, minced, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, divided

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided

8 large Swiss chard leaves, stems removed (see Tip)

1 14 ounce can chicken broth

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup Gorgonzola, (optional)

1 cups mushrooms, sliced

The Process

1.  Gently mix beef, almond flour, 1/4 cup onions, 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl until just combined. Divide the mixture into 8 oblong 3-inch portions.

2.  Overlap the two sides of a chard leaf where the stem was removed and place a portion of beef there. Tightly roll the chard around the beef. Place each roll, seam-side down, in a large nonstick skillet. Pour in broth, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer; cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a roll reads 165 degrees F, 8 to 10 minutes. Discard any remaining broth.

3.  Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining onion, mushrooms, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes. Serve the chard rolls topped with sauce and Gorgonzola cheese, if desired.