Recipe: Mina de matzo is a Sephardic Passover pie made with ground meat and Swiss chard

Mina de matzo (Passover matzo pie with ground meat and Swiss chard)Noah Fecks

Serves 8

	Oil (for the baking dish)
1	large bunch Swiss chard, washed and stemmed
3	tablespoons olive oil, schmaltz, or duck fat
2	large onions, chopped
	Salt and pepper, to taste
4	cloves garlic, chopped
1½	pounds ground beef, turkey, or chicken
4	cups marinara sauce
9	sheets matzo
1	egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water

1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

2. Fit a saucepan with a steamer insert and add several inches of water. Bring to a boil, add the chard, and cover the pan. Steam for 5 minutes. Rinse the chard with very cold water. Drain it and squeeze it dry. Chop coarsely.

3. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil, schmaltz, or fat. Add the onions, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking, stirring often, for 5 minutes more, or until the onion softens.

4. Add the ground meat to the pan, and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, for 8 minutes, or until the meat is cooked. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like.

5. Spread one-third of the marinara sauce in the baking dish.

6. Fill a large shallow dish (not the baking dish) with water. Add 3 sheets of matzo and let them sit for 1 minute to soften. Watch carefully so they don’t fall apart. Lift them out, tap off the excess water with paper towels, and make a layer of matzo in the dish, cutting pieces to make them fit.

7. Add half the ground beef and half the Swiss chard. Add another one-third of the marinara sauce, 3 soaked matzos, the remaining meat, and the remaining chard. Finally add the remaining marinara and the remaining 3 soaked matzos.

8. Brush the top matzos with the beaten egg (save leftover egg to brush again later).

9. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove the foil and brush the top again with egg wash. Return to the oven and continue baking for 15 minutes, or until the top matzos are crisp. (Total baking time is 1 hour.)

10. Let the dish stand for 5 minutes before cutting into pieces. Sheryl Julian. Adapted from “The 100 Most Jewish Foods”