I am really excited by this recipe as there are not many bakes that I truly enjoy. Maybe it’s just that I am more of a top of the oven than in the oven person. The inspiration comes from Bart van der Lee’s recipe in the Waitrose Weekend paper. He had been a memorable finalist on Masterchef in 2020.

This dish, which could have endless variations, became even more exciting the last time I made it by using the remaining old chard stems and mixing in with them wild or self-seeded plants – nipplewort, rocket, marjoram and sorrel – all taken from a patch I was clearing on the allotment. It was a wonderful mixture of tastes that could have been part of a mediaeval meal.

Common nipplewort ( also known as Lapsana Communis) was a revelation; tender leaves with a mild spinach flavour. The Doctrine of Signatures (a pseudoscience claiming that God would have indicated what plants could be used for) takes the shape of the flower buds as its cue, Culpeper in his Complete Herbal says of nipplewort, ‘These are the plants of Venus, and kindly endued with a peculiar faculty for healing sore nipples‘. Next time I make this dish, I may try using nettles which also have a mild spinach flavour and, again, according to Culpeper, any number of beneficial properties.

Oven at 170°C

20g butter plus extra for greasing
200g Swiss chard (or a mixture of chard, spinach, herbs)
1 clove garlic
225g single cream
100ml vegetable stock
700g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced, rinsed and kept in cold water
3 bulbs fennel, thinly sliced, fronds reserved
200g Taleggio cheese, cut into small pieces
Small bunch thyme, leaves only
Salt

Separate the leaves from the stems of the chard or spinach and finely chop.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the stems and garlic, Sauté for three minutes, than add the leaves and other vegetables, all finely chopped. Cook for two minutes. Season.

In a bowl, mix together the cream, vegetable stock and salt.

Grease a deep baking dish and in it place a layer of potatoes, followed by a layer of fennel. Place on top the sautéed green vegetables and dot over most of the Taleggio. Pour over half the cream mixture and sprinkle over a generous pinch of thyme leaves.

Add another layer of fennel and top with a layer of potatoes. Pour over the remaining cream mixture and add another sprinkling of thyme leaves,

Cover the dish with baking parchment and put a dish on top to keep the contents under pressure while baking.

Bake for 1½hours, or until the potatoes begin to feel soft, then uncover and add the remaining Taleggio.

Increase the oven temperature to 200°C and cook for another 20 minutes or until the top is brown and crispy and the potatoes are soft.

Serve hot with more thyme leaves (I used the remaining marjoram) and any fennel fronds scattered on top.