Farfalle with Swiss Chard

I was worried that my husband wouldn't like this, but we were both pleasantly surprised. It's more filling than plain pasta for the same number of Weight Watchers points. And he wants me to make it again!

I found this recipe in LA Times Food Section. Oops! I seem to have cut the date off, but it was from a Wednesday in the last week of March or beginning of April, 2002.

If you are following Weight Watchers points, each serving is 5 points.

Salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 shallots, minced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped I use prechopped garlic in a jar
1/2 cup white wine You can substitute chicken broth or buy white wine in tiny little bottles, if you don't normally have it around.
1 orange bell pepper, diced small
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound Farfalle (bow tie) pasta
1 pound (2 bunches or 1 large bunch) Swiss chard, stems discarded, leaves roughly chopped The recipe doesn't specify red or green. Red worked fine.
1/4 cup (1 oz.) grated fresh Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:

1. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the wine and bell pepper and cook until the wine evaporates, 3 minutes. I had to cook it for longer than 3 minutes to get the wine to cook down. Add the tomatoes with their juice and salt and pepper to taste. continue to cook until the liquid has reduced by about half.
3. While the sauce simmers, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook 6 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and cook until the chard is tender and pasta is cooked, another 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and chard and return to the pot. Add the tomato mixture and stir in the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. I found that this did need salt.

Calories 296; Fat 8; Carb 41; Fiber 5.9; Chol 31; Sodium 578.

Serve with Crusty Herb Bread.

04/17/02