FAMOUS GREENS… UTICA’S (NY) FAVORITE DISH…

Ingredients:

• 2 large heads escarole
• Chicken broth or water, enough to cover the greens when cooking
• ¼ cup of chicken broth for seasoning
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 2 to 4 hot cherry peppers (to taste), seeded and chopped
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/3 pound prosciutto, sliced ¼ in thick from the deli, chopped into small chunks
• ½ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, plus more for topping
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for topping
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Cut off and discard the hard bottom stem from each head of escarole
• Wash escarole thoroughly, remove any damaged leaves, and rough chop
• Place escarole in 5 quart stock pot and fill with enough water or chicken broth to cover greens
• Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 minutes (do not overcook)
• Drain escarole well and set aside
• In a large sauté pan, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat
• Add onions, red peppers, cherry peppers and prosciutto until the peppers and onions are softened, add garlic and cook another 1 to 2 minutes
• In a large pan combine cooked escarole, ingredients from the sauté pan, bread crumbs, grated cheese and chicken broth.  Mix all ingredients well.  Salt and pepper to taste
• Top with some additional bread crumbs and grated cheese and place under broiler until brown.

Kathy’s Notes

Kathy with a K notes…Cathy’s with a C recipe is based on Utica’s favorite dish… Famous greens.  I substituted seeded jalapeno for the hot cherry peppers as they were not available in my grocery store at the time.

Cathy Thiaville Via KathyMillerTime