TL/DR – Mushroom Chard Cheese Melts. An “almost” vegetarian dish with anchovies as the magic ingredient. Braise mushrooms, Swiss chard, thyme, garlic, and anchovies in vinegar and veggie broth. Allow moisture to cook off. Heap on sour dough toast, top with Gruyere and briefly broil. –
This recipe came from leftover vegetables in the refrigerator. It satisfies several cravings; it’s cheesy, tart, a bit salty, crunchy, warm and comforting. Make it for meatless Monday dinner or just as a side for a big, hot bowl of Easy Tomato Soup.
Start with thinly sliced mushrooms sautéed in olive oil for a few minutes. Add minced garlic, thyme and anchovies. Follow that with some white balsamic vinegar, a bit of veggie broth and the chard. Allow it to braise on low for 10 minutes.
As it braises, toast some sour dough or rye bread and shred the Gruyere on the finest setting. After ten minutes of braising, uncover and crank up the heat for additional moisture to cook off of the mushrooms and chard.
To assemble, cover the toast with grainy mustard, then heap on the the veggies and top with the Gruyere. Broil ever so briefly to melt the cheese. Serve immediately with fresh tomatoes or alongside a bowl of soup.
Note: Depending on the volume of cooked vegetables and the size of bread slices, this recipe makes 3 or 4 cheese melts.
Mushroom Chard Cheese Melts
A delicious almost vegetarian meal with fresh mushrooms, chard, garlic, thyme and anchovies braised in vinegar and veggie broth heaped on toast with grainy mustard and gruyere cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 T extra virgin olive oil
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 T fresh thyme, minced
- 1 oz anchovies, drained, minced
- 1 T white balsamic vinegar
- 1 large bunch Swiss chard, ribs removed, sliced in thin ribbons
- 1/4 c vegetable broth
- 3 or 4 slices of sour dough or rye bread
- 4 T grainy mustard
- 3/4 c Gruyere cheese, very finely shredded
Directions
- Step 1 In a large skillet, sauté the mushrooms in olive oil over medium high heat for about a minute.
- Step 2 Add the garlic, anchovies and thyme and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Step 3 Add the vinegar and allow to cook off, stirring constantly.
- Step 4 Add the broth and the chard and toss everything together.
- Step 5 Reduce the heat to low, cover and braise for ten minutes.
- Step 6 As the vegetables braise, toast the bread until golden brown, then place on a cookie sheet and top each slice with about 1 T of grainy mustard. Shred the cheese.
- Step 7 Once the vegetables have braised, remove the lid and increase the heat to medium to allow any additional liquid to cook off.
- Step 8 Use a slotted spoon to heap 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mushroom and chard mixture onto each piece of toast.
- Step 9 Top each with about 1/4 c of Gruyere.
- Step 10 Broil for 1 – 2 minutes to melt the cheese, watching constantly to avoid burning. Serve immediately.
