These Italian stuffed collard greens are so incredibly delicious. If you tend to steer away from cooking collards because you don't know how to make them (or you don't know what they go well with besides a southern meal!), OR you think they don't taste good, think again!
There are a variety of ways to prepare collards, and Italian stuffed collard greens is just one of many. I made these with white rice (seasoned with garlic powder, dry basil, sea salt and pepper), sautéed yellow onions, cannellini beans, cheddar, gouda, and then baked them atop heirloom tomato sauce for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. The result: cheesy, bursting-with-flavor perfection. Recipe as follows.
2. Fill a wide, deep pan with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Blanch collard greens 1-2 at a time for 2-3 minutes. Each time a pair is done blanching, place them in a large bowl with cold water to stop them from cooking.
3. When done blanching collards, discard water and use the same pan to heat the extra virgin olive oil; sautée yellow onions in olive oil until golden and fragrant.
4. Add cooked white rice to the onions; mix together and season with garlic powder, dry basil, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool (so the cheese doesn't melt when mixed in).
5. Rinse cannellini beans; shred cheddar and gouda.
6. Mix cannellini beans and shredded cheese into rice and onion mixture. Taste the rice to make sure you added enough seasoning. You may want to add more garlic, basil, salt or pepper.
7. Cover the bottom of a large baking pan with one jar of tomato sauce. You can use any sauce you like; I used Dave's Gourmet Red Heirloom Organic Pasta Sauce.
8. Wrap 2-3 tablespoons of rice, onion, bean and cheese mixture into each collard green. Watch this quick demo for how to wrap/stuff collard greens.
9. Place stuffed collard greens side-by-side in baking pan (it's ok if they touch).
10. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately.