Utica greens CSA style
From Stoneledge Farm Apparently, this is famous in upstate NY, where some say that "a restaurant is only as good as its Utica Greens," which is what this is. It's sort of an amazing dish. I almost ate the whole pan of it.
Ingredients
- 1 large head of escarole
- Salt
- 6 cloves garlic
- 4-6 hot peppers depending on your preference
- ¼ lb pancetta or prosciutto or any smoked pork product
- ½ cup Pecorino cheese
- ½ cup dry unflavored breadcrumbs
- olive oil for sautéing
Instructions
- Cut the stem end off the escarole so that it falls into leaves, drop the washed leaves into boiling salted water, and leave them for about 5 minutes. Pull them out and rinse under cold water or dunk into a bowl of ice water. When they’re cool enough to handle, squeeze out the water, and chop them roughly.
- Chop the garlic, hot peppers, and the pancetta/prosciutto/smoked pork.
- Grate the pecorino cheese and mix it with the bread crumbs.
- Turn the oven to broil, and let it heat up.
- In a big pan, add a slick of olive oil, and then add the garlic, and the pork. Cook this until the pork just begins to crisp up. Add the peppers and the escarole, and toss the stuff together. Off the heat, stir in about two-thirds of the cheese and breadcrumb mixture, and then put everything in an oven proof dish. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese and breadcrumbs over this, and broil it until it just colors.