I remember my Nana’s kitchen in Rodels, Graubuenden when she made capuns. Small, neat little packages of chard leaves filled with a spaetzle dough and Salsiz ( a spicy air-dried sausage), baked in broth and milk, and topped with grated cheese. Heavenly! Every family in Graubuenden or Grison (canton of Switzerland) has it’s own recipe and our family is no exception. Unfortunately some of the ingredients are not easy to come by, like the sausage and the leaves that I knew under the name Mangold.
A little research explained that Mangold is similar (or the same?) as Swiss Chard. Some people also use beet leaves. I also found in my recipe box a capuns recipe from my Uncle Paul that had substituted the Salsiz with ham and Landjaeger.
The other day my friend Steph gave me some Swiss Chard fresh from her garden so I had the chance to finally try making capuns.
With Steph’s help we made a batch that easily feeds 12. It’s takes some time so we decided to make more than we needed and freeze the left overs. Capuns can be easily reheated in a crock pot.
Capuns
Print recipe
| Serves | 12 |
| Prep time | 1 hour, 20 minutes |
| Cook time | 40 minutes |
| Total time | 2 hours |
| Allergy | Egg, Wheat |
| Meal type | Main Dish |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot |
| Region | European |
Ingredients
- 5 cups flour
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 6 eggs
- 1lb ham (cut in very small cubes)
- 8 Landjaeger (cut in very small cubes)
- 6 Slices bacon (cut in thin strips)
- 2 tablespoons parsley (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoons chive (finely chopped)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 24 leaves Swiss Chard
- 1 stick butter ((bets is Irish butter))
- 1 cube bouillon
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups cheese (grated (we used raclette cheese))
Directions
| Filling | |
| 1. | |
| Mix together the first 4 ingredients to make a sticky spaetzle dough. | |
| 2. | |
|
Mix in the meat and herbs (ingredients 5-10) |  |
| Preparing the leaves | |
| 3. | |
| Wash the chard leaves and dry on paper towels | |
| 4. | |
|
With a rolling pin, flatten the leaves until the veins are crushed, allowing the leaves to be rolled up. |  |
| Filling the leaves | |
| 5. | |
|
Drop 2 tables spoons of dough into a leave, make a little package about 2" by 4". Secure with a toothpick if needed. |  |
| Brown the Capuns | |
| 6. | |
|
Melt some butter in a frying pan and brown the packages from each side for a few minutes. Careful to keep them together. |  |
| Baking the Capuns | |
| 7. | |
| Arrange the capuns in a baking pan. Make sure they are close together so they don't fall apart. | |
| 8. | |
| Mix the milk, water and bouillon cubes and pour over the capuns. | |
| 9. | |
| Preheat the oven to 350F | |
| 10. | |
| Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil to keep the moisture in | |
| 11. | |
| Bake for 30 minutes. | |
| 12. | |
| Uncover the baking pan and spread the grated cheese over the capuns | |
| 13. | |
| Bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and starts to get golden brown. | |
| 14. | |
|
Enjoy! |  |
Note
Landjaeger can be purchased at www.RacletteCorner.com. It can be substituted with a spicy Italian salami. You'll need about 2 lbs. If fresh herbs are not available, substitute with Italian seasoning. When reheating the capuns add some broth/milk mix so the dough isn't too dry.
I use raclette cheese, also available at www.RacletteCorner.com. Any cheese that melts nicely can be used.
Tagged: capuns, chard, dinner, raclette cheese, swiss