About Escarole
Escarole is a member of the chicory family, closely related to Endive and Radicchio. Like all the chicories it has a touch of bracing bitterness, but it is the least bitter green of this family and the one that mellows most with cooking. Mature Escarole looks like a large wheel of frilly green leaves with a white center or "heart". While its bitterness might be a little off putting for raw eating, it mellows considerably when cooked.
The bitter component of escarole is actually very healthy in that it aids in cleansing the liver and stimulates bile production for better digestion. This is why it used to be common to take a dose of "Bitters" or a bitter liqueur following a large meal.
Most of the bitter flavors common in our diets have been bred out (think of iceberg lettuce) or covered over with sugar (coffee and chocolate being two prime examples of this).
Bitter foods and herbs used to be highly prized in many cultures the world over, but today we tend to avoid them. Escarole, in the recipes that follow is a highly enjoyable way to get some bitter back into your diet.
Squirrel Soup (Zuppa di Scarole)
Back in the early 1960's, one of my cousins on my Lithuanian side took a job working a night shift in a factory. His route to work took him close by the Campilli House in Wappingers Falls. When Grandma Campilli found this out she called my mother and said, of course, "When's he gonna eat, he can't work all night if he doesn't eat something!"
It was agreed that he would go a little early and stop on his way. He did this once and didn't have to be coaxed again. On one occasion, she served him "Zuppa di Scarole". He immediately pronounced it to be the best Squirrel Soup he had ever tasted and he repeated his story of the squirrel soup to anyone who would listen.
I don't think we ever succeeded in convincing him that there were no squirrels in that soup. Nonna just smiled when he raved about it and never corrected him. Either she didn't understand what he meant, or she thought it was funny; or maybe she really did put a squirrel in his soup. We never found out.
Recipe:
Three quarts broth
One onion
One Carrot
One rib celery
One egg beaten with a quarter cup parmesan cheese
Juice from half a lemon
Two tablespoons olive oil
Due to its layers of growth, a head of escarole can hide some hidden pockets of soil.
1. Wash the escarole in several changes of cold water until the water shows no traces of soil. Shake out the water and chop the escarole roughly.
2. Chop the onion, carrot and celery into a fine Battuto, then sauté them in the olive oil right in your soup pot.
3. In a separate sauce pan, have the broth simmering and add it to the pot.
4. Add in the escarole and simmer the soup for a half hour or so until the escarole has cooked down.
5. Add the lemon juice. This is important as sour (acidity) and bitter flavors seem to make each other more palatable and interesting.
6. Finally, just before serving, whisk in the beaten egg and parmesan, breaking it up just as it hits the hot water so it forms thin threads that spread throughout the soup.
As with any soup, escarole soup improves as it sits so make it an hour or several ahead of time and warm it up before serving.
If you add little meatballs and the tiny pasta called pastina to escarole soup, you will have a version of the popular "Italian Wedding Soup".
