Galen recommended its use to combat liver disease – and until the sixteenth century, it was in fact a medicinal plant.
We, as Romans, discovered it late as a side dish vegetable… now there’s no family that doesn’t eat it.
Sautéed escarole Roman-style
- Preparation time: 20 minutes
- Ingredients for 4 servings
- Difficulty: Easy recipe
- Ingredients
- 1 escarole
- 2 anchovies in oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 piece of fresh chili
- 1 handful of pine nuts
- 1 handful of raisins
- 4 tablespoons of Gaeta olives
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Instructions
- Clean the escarole. Trim off the base, remove the outer leaves if they appear damaged, and separate the leaves. Wash them very well, then chop the escarole leaves.
- In a pan of unsalted water, boil the escarole for two minutes. Drain and put in iced water. Squeeze well.
- Put the raisins in a cup of boiling water for few minutes. Drain and squeeze them well.
- In a non-stick pan with oil, fry the garlic over low heat. Add the anchovies and melt them. Add the chopped escarole leaves and olives and continue cooking for about ten minutes.
- Finally, complete with raisins and pine nuts.
- Season with salt and serve.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- To fix the chlorophyll to the escarole, it should be cooled quickly once it has been slightly boiled. A safe way is to use the blast chiller. Otherwise, you can put the leaves in water and ice for a few seconds.
- Garlic should always be fried over low heat because it will become indigestible if it blackens.
