I like wilted escarole salads a lot! Especially with bacon, red grapes, and a warm red wine vinaigrette, yum! I usually sauté my escarole very briefly to give the vinaigrette a head start on wilting it down. Bon Appetit has a good looking recipe here: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/02/escarole_with_bacon_dates_and_warm_walnut_vinaigrette
My grandmother made pasta con escarole soup, which is as simple as it sounds: pastina (or any small pasta) cooked in a pot of boiling water or broth with escarole. Add good olive oil, salt, and lots of pepper. Total Italian peasant food, but comforting and delicious.
You brought to mind a recipe for peas steamed on a lettuce bed, which I think would be delicious with or without the peas, from the Blueberry Hill Cookbook, by Elsie Masterton.
Make a bed of leaves (cut in ribbons?). Lay on it sliced onion, frozen peas, pinch of thyme, 1 T butter, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt. Start cooking over low heat in a covered pot. In a few minutes, move the peas around and raise the heat. Cook another 10 minutes, covered. (Adjust for escarole instead of the bland lettuce leaves in the original.)
Escarole cooked in chicken stock with a rind of parmigiano is a classic Italian combination. Some ground peppercorns. This is a soup and definitely not vegan. Just cook the washed escarole down until it wilts. Veganism is a form of social darwinism, at least in this reporter's opinion.
How 'bout an escarole and caramelized onion panade? Tear/cut stale bread into approx 1" cubes, toss with chopped escarole and caramelized onion, olive oil, salt & pepper and, if you want, a little grated parmesan or gruyere cheese, put in a baking dish and add stock (veg or chix, whatever you've got) to come a little more than half way up. Bake covered at 350 about 30 min, remove cover and bake 15 min more, till the top is brown and a bit crunchy. Warm, savory and satisfying - great as a side or all by itself!
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Make a bed of leaves (cut in ribbons?). Lay on it sliced onion, frozen peas, pinch of thyme, 1 T butter, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt. Start cooking over low heat in a covered pot. In a few minutes, move the peas around and raise the heat. Cook another 10 minutes, covered. (Adjust for escarole instead of the bland lettuce leaves in the original.)