I've been given some giant spinach

[Trills]

(swapped it for some figs from my tree)

What should I do with it?

How giant, you ask?

THIS giant.

(Jamie is there as a reference point - you will know how big a cookbook is)

Oooh I was given some like that - chopped it into long strips and added it to curry, and made feta and spinach filo pastries. Yummy!

Also I am jealous and want figs

You could steam it gently and use it as a wrapping parcel for fillings of your choice?

Buy ricotta and make a big batch of spinach and ricotta and use that to fill a quiche or freeze in portions for pasta sauce. Just drain it well once cooked, zap it, season it and stir in the ricotta. It's one of my favourite things at the minute!

Oh, and it looks more like chard to me...did the grower tell you what variety of spinach it was?

I don't think I have any receptacle big enough to steam them!

Stuff it with mince and rice to make Kurdish dolma.

Maybe it's chard.

What is chard?

I didn't see the grower directly - I swapped it with an Italian lady who said "maybe that's not what you call it here, but it is like spinach".

I've had a rather odd day, witnessed a car crash, met some neighbours, was offered spinach by a passer-by in return for figs.

Well it is not spinach, it is chard. You can make a casserole of it, just boil the thing for 5 min and then put it in an oven proof plate with tomato sauce (add sugar in it because chard is pretty bitter) + cheese on top.

I have not cooked it for ages, chard is DH's idea of horse food

Can I do all the things listed for spinach with chard? Or will it not work?

I forgot to add that you have to dice the "hard" part and slice the leaves before sticking it in the oven.

Lacking practice!

Btw, put a lot of your favourite spices in it, the taste is rather unusual.

I would say yes to curry and pastries but would hesitate to pair it with ricotta (as much as I love spinach and ricotta).

If you want to use them as wraps, I would boil the leaves only and twice in two different waters to remove the bitterness.

"Bitterness", "unusual taste" - do you want to come out with it and tell me that I've been given something horrible? :o

It'll work with most recipes that use spices. Chard is commonly used in Kurdish dolma recipes because large spinach leaves are so hard to get here.
You could just sautee it with garlic and leeks.

I don't think it's that much different to spinach but then I suppose it depends how it's cooked.

Ooh, no, don't use it with ricotta! Ignore my previous suggestion, I hadn't seen the photo when I posted about ricotta!

www.bbc.co.uk/food/chard

Good info here!

Haha I have been influenced by DH who is currently making (boak) faces next to me so I thought I would warn you. It is a bit of a "marmite" veg.

Yum, I LOVE chard. Which is lucky, as I have half a ton growing in the back garden...

I do prefer it a bit younger than yours seems to be - as it can go a bit minerally when it's older. But I'd still trough it.

Try in a gratin - there;s a really nice Nigel recipe with mustard - or in a tart, like an allotment version of spanakopita.

May I have some figs for those suggestions please? I love figs too...

I'm not sure the figs will travel, but I am making jam... :)

Random Italian lady has just returned with some smaller more tender ones!

Italian Lady must like you!
The smaller stuff will be delish. The larger stuff will too, it's just more robust. Gratin the bigg'uns.

I am so jealous of your fig tree. You're in the UK, right?
I might NEED a fig tree. To go with the cherry tree that I need. And the plum tree that I have, and is very bounteous this year.

Quite the strange day for you Trills!

Enjoy the chard!

Yep, in the UK. Lots of fig this year.