Utica Greens
Utica Greens, named after that central New York city, are the traditional accompaniment to Chicken Riggies. They are also nice with grilled steak or chicken, or maybe as a topping on an eggplant parm sandwich. Note that my version is quite a bit lighter than what you may have had in an upstate restaurant, where they often pride themselves on packing in the prosciut’, peppers, cheese and oil. This just has a nice balance. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
1 medium-to-large head of escarole, 1 pound or more
1/4 c chicken stock
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 c onion, thinly sliced
1 pickled cherry pepper, seeded and chopped*
1/4 c vinegar peppers or bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1/4 lb prosciutto or pancetta, chopped
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/3 c bread crumbs
1/3 c Parmesan cheese, grated, plus maybe a bit more to mix in
Method: thoroughly wash the escarole, removing any brown ends or leaves, and chop into 1-inch strips. Place in a covered saucepan with the chicken stock, bring to a boil, lower heat and sweat 5 minutes until the greens have reduced by half. (At this point you can refrigerate the greens and bring them out when it’s time to cook and serve.)
Utica Greens in 8-inch oven pan. Some recipes use a lot more product, but mine is ample to serve 4 as a side dish.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a medium saucepan and add garlic and onion and bell peppers if you’re using them. Sauté until tender. Add prosciutto or pancetta and cook till it crisps a bit; add cherry peppers and vinegar peppers. Add spices and reserved escarole and its liquid (if there’s a lot you can drain some off) and perhaps a little parmesan. Mix well and transfer to a 8-inch baking pan or a small cast iron skillet. Cover the top with an equal mix of bread crumbs and cheese (you might want to just mix them up in a bowl). Bake until cheese melts and the liquid is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately or at room temperature.
*Do try to find Italian style pickled cherry peppers. But if you fail, sprinkle in some flakes of crushed red pepper and increase the vinegar peppers/bell peppers a bit.
