Swiss Chard and Ricotta Yorkshires

This is the fourth part of my Great British Bake Off Bakealong, and this week I found the signature bake rather fascinating, I have written previously about by adoration for homemade Yorkshire puddings, and indeed I have eaten them alone for lunch with just a little gravy. I also have a loathing of bought frozen Yorkshire puddings, given how simple they are to make, and a firm belief that the puddings should be crisp, rather than pillowy or fluffy.

These puddings are filled with sauteed swiss chard and ricotta and they make a delectable dinner when served with just a light green salad, you could also make them as an hors d'ouevre if you use a smaller pudding tin. I must confess that I actually managed to start a small fire whilst making these, I strongly believe that a good inch of oil is needed in each tin to achieve a crisp rise, unfortunately, I was a little too overzealous in my use of oil and some of it overflowed into the floor of the oven where upon contact with the burner it promptly burst into flame. Although I did nearly burn my house down and probably scarred my cat in the process after tasting these I can confirm that it was definitely worth it.

About an hour before you plan to actually start cooking make the batter, crack four eggs into a bowl and add the milk and whisk, sift in the flour and season with salt and pepper, whisk until free of lumps and pour it into a jug, cover with cling film and place in the fridge.

When you are ready to cook the Yorkshire puddings fill the bottom of a pudding tin with sunflower oil and place in a very hot oven until it starts to smoke, open the oven door and pour the batter into each well until there is a good amount of batter, but it is still covered by oil, close the door and cook for 20 minutes, resist any temptation to open the oven door  until they have finished cooking. I also advise that you don't stare wistfully at them through the oven door, they can be very temperamental and have a tendency to get stage fright.

Wash the swiss chard and chop finely discarding the tough stalks, sautee with a little sunflower oil for five minutes until tender. Empty the ricotta into a large bowl and mash with a fork, add an egg yolk and a grating of fresh nutmeg and mix, fold in the cooked chard.

Fill each Yorkshire pudding with a spoonful of the chard and ricotta mixture and place on a baking tray, return to a medium oven for five minutes for the filling to set and for the Yorkshire puddings to crisp up and serve.

ingredients

     for the puddings
4 eggs
140g plain flour
200ml semi-skimmed milk
sunflower oil

     for the filling
1kg chard
200g ricotta
freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg yolk
sunflower oil