Utica Greens And Beans Recipes

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 (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:

• Rinse the escarole and chop into small pieces.
• Bring salted water to a boil and blanch the escarole for 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and run under cold water.
• Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the proscuitto and onion and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
• Add the drained escarole, cherry peppers and water. Stir it all together and add a little salt and pepper if desired.
• Cook until the escarole is wilted, about 7-8 minutes.
• Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs and cheese, and stick under the broiler for 2 minutes to brown the top.

GREENS AND BEANS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven.
• Add onion and garlic slices. Saute until tender about 3 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and salt and pepper; stir until fragrant. Add the kale and let saute until it cooks down slightly. Add the beans and the chicken stock.
• Cover and let cook for 10 minutes.

ITALIAN GREENS AND BEANS WITH SAUSAGE VARIATION

Steps:

• I process onions and garlic lightly, then saute them in olive oil until they are transparent in a good-sized pot on medium. (I suppose you could chop these things, but why? Also, by "good-sized" I mean a pot that will contain all of the escarole leaves).
• Add sausage and cook thoroughly, but not overly. Turn up the heat a bit.
• When sausage is looking about done, add tomato chopped to your liking. I chop it small.
• Add the cleaned and rinsed escarole. Sometimes Escarole heads can be really big or pretty puny. Since 2 puny heads (~size of a larger grapefruit) = 1 really big head (~size of a football), opt for whatever combination you can get. To clean it, I just take off a bunch of leaves, rinse them under cold water, snap them in half, and throw them in the pot. Don't worry about water getting into the pot. Let the escarole cook all the way down to the point you see the lines at the base of the leaf. You'll see what I mean. Don't undercook it. You'll taste it and it's not a good taste. At this point I rely on the taste test to know when it's done.
• Once escarole is sufficiently wilted, add your canellini beans. Of course, make sure they are sufficiently rinsed then drained. Heat them thoroughly.
• Add chicken stock, more or less depending on how soupy you want it. The broth is so good that you may want to make it soupy, which I did the second time around!
• Let it simmer until the outer layer sheds off of the canellini beans. Serve with some warm crusty bread (I use the whole grain because it's SBD-friendly) and enjoy!

GREENS AND BEANS

Steps:

• Pour enough water into a large pot to be about 2 inches deep; bring to a boil. Stir 1 teaspoon salt into the boiling water; add escarole. Cook the escarole at a boil, pushing the escarole further into the water as it wilts, until it is fork-tender, 3 to 5 minutes; drain.
• Pour olive oil into the pot and place over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes in hot oil until the garlic is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir drained escarole and cannellini beans into the garlic mixture; cook and stir until the beans are hot, 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the mixture just before serving.