Best Utica Greens Recipes

UTICA GREENS (ESCAROLE)

Steps:

• Clean and rinse escarole twice; chop in large pieces.
• Boil down for 5 or 6 minutes so it's tender and wilted.
• Place olive oil in a saute pan and heat.
• Add chopped garlic and prosciutto and render for 2 or 3 minutes. Do not burn garlic.
• Add seeded peppers and cook another minute or so.
• Add the escarole and all the other ingredients in the pan.
• Gradually add the bread crumbs and grated cheese, tossing gently until blended.
• Taste for final salt and pepper seasoning.
• Place in a casserole; sprinkle a little of the bread crumbs and place under a broiler for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot.

UTICA GREENS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, prepare the oreganato: Mix the oil, bread crumbs and cheese until well blended. It should have the texture of moist beach sand. Set aside.
• When the water is boiling, blanch the greens until they are nearly limp but still a little firm, about 1 to 2 minutes. Plunge them into the ice bath to stop the cooking. Remove and drain them well in a colander or salad spinner, allowing them to remain moist but not dripping wet. Squeeze just a little of the moisture from them, then chop them into 2-inch pieces. Set aside.
• Heat the broiler. Coat a large pan with the olive oil. Over medium heat, sauté the prosciutto, cherry peppers and garlic until the prosciutto is browned and slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. (Lower heat slightly if garlic begins to brown too quickly.) Add the chopped greens to the pan, season with salt and pepper and stir to mix well.
• Add 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and 1/2 cup of the oreganato. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently to blend, scraping the bottom of the pan to keep the oreganato from burning.
• Sprinkle another 1/4 cup oreganato atop the greens. (Save leftover oreganato for use in another greens dish, or add it to baked chicken or shrimp.) Place the pan under the broiler and broil until the top browns, about 2 minutes. Remove from the broiler and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the dish. Serve immediately.

UTICA GREENS AND BEANS

Steps:

• Wash escarole leaves in a large bowl in several changes of cold water until no grit remains.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; cook escarole in the boiling water until bright green and slightly wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer escarole to a large bowl using a slotted spoon. Rinse greens in cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain thoroughly.
• Place pancetta and olive oil into a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat; cook until browned and crisp in spots, about 5 minutes. Stir jalapeno peppers into pancetta; cook and stir until peppers start to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
• Pour chicken broth over pancetta mixture, bring to a simmer, and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Gently stir beans into skillet. Mix escarole into mixture, turn off heat, and top with 1/2 cup bread crumbs. Stir until crumbs are still visible but most are incorporated. Season with red pepper flakes. Top with 2 tablespoons bread crumbs followed by Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese; drizzle top with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Place skillet under broiler and cook until top is golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

UTICA GREENS

Steps:

• 1. Clean and drain the Escarole by filling the sink or extra large bowl with cold water. Chop the bottom off of the head of Escarole. Place leaves in water and swish around, cleaning any silt that is still sticking to the leaves. Remove leaves from water and chop into bite size pieces.
• 2. Fill a large pot half to three quarters full of water. Add some salt as you would for pasta and bring to boil. Blanche the escarole by placing it in the pot and leaving it there for 3 minutes. Remove from pot to an ice bath. One you have given the escarole an ice bath you can remove it to a strainer to drain the excess water.
• 3. In a large saute pan that can be placed in the oven saute hot pepper flakes, prosciutto, onion, and garlic until onions are soft. Add the Escarole and saute for 5-8 minutes. Add the chopped cherry peppers and a tablespoon or two of their juice and enough chicken stock to make them a tad juicy. Give it a good stir to combine ingredients. Mix the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese and sprinkle generously over the top. Place pan under broiler for 3-5 minutes or until bread crumbs and cheese are golden brown.
• 4. Serve with crusty bread as an appetizer. Or over the top of sauteed chicken breast. Or use to make a pizza or Utica Greens Penne (Recipes to follow).
• 5. You can find me elsewhere too. My Blog-Ma's Aprong Strings: masapronstrings.blogspot.com Pinterest: pinterest.com/rainiepiccione/boards Facebook: facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/BookOfKeepers

UTICA GREENS (SAUTED ESCAROLE)

Steps:

• 1. Clean and rinse escarole twice; tear in large pieces. 2. Boil veggie broth in a pan to blanch escarole. When boiling, submerge escarole for 3-6 minutes until wilted. reserve broth. 3. Place olive oil in a saute pan and heat to medium. 4. Add garlic, onion and potato dices (prosciutto if desired) and saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Do not burn garlic- if it browns, remove it. Cook potatoes until tender and remove, reserve. 5. Add peppers, cook another minute or so. 6. Add the escarole and broth, but not all of it. start at 3/4 cup and play by ear. should not be soupy at the end. the intention is to build a sauce with the pan renderings and to finish cooking the escarole, coated in the sauce. As the liquid reduces and the greens look fully wilted, taste them and add more broth or season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, as needed. When satisfied with taste and pan is almost all reduced- 7. Gradually add the egg, scrambling (if desired), bread crumbs and grated cheese, tossing gently until blended. Bread crumbs will soak up remaining sauce. Add fried potatoes back in. 8. Taste for final seasoning. Optional- 9. Place in a casserole dish or crock; sprinkle some bread crumbs and mozzarella or provolone cheese on top and broil 3-4 minutes until browned. Serve hot.

UTICA GREENS

Steps:

• Place onions, peppers, cherry peppers, capicola, and garlic in a bowl and toss with olive oil. In a large saute pan start to cook mixture until onions are soft and capicola is crisp. Add Escarole over the top and allow to wilt down. Mix occasionally untill all of escarole is broken down. Add parmesean cheese and bread crumbs to soak up any liquid and cook for 5 min. Add salt and pepper to taste.

UTICA GREENS PIZZA WITH HOT CAPICOLA HAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to highest temperature it allows. Mine will let me set it at 550 degrees. I start my pizza on the bottom of the oven close to heat source. For the last 5 minutes I move it to the top to cook the top.
• Lightly grease pizza pan. I use my 10 inch cast iron griddle. But you can use what works best for you.
• Stretch the dough to fit. I like mine nice and thin with a thicker crust around the edge.
• Once the dough is set to your liking. Smear it with Ricotta Cheese. I use an offset spatula to create an even layer.
• Once you have the ricotta layer set, add a layer of Utica Greens. I just break off pieces and dot them everywhere.
• The next layer is the Capicola Ham. I take my slices and chop them up in bite size pieces and dot those over the layer of greens.
• For the last layer I take a handful of mozzarella and sprinkle on top .
• Place pan in bottom of oven cook for 15-20 minutes. Be sure to check often, oven temps vary for everyone. Once the crust is crispy and golden brown, I then move it to the top of the oven to ensure the toppings are cooked.
• Eat and enjoy! You can find me elsewhere too: My Blog-Ma's Aprong Strings: masapronstrings.blogspot.com Pinterest: pinterest.com/rainiepiccione/boards Facebook: facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/BookOfKeepers