Stuffed Escarole (Scarola Imbottita)
The original recipe for this unusual Sicilian stuffed head of escarole, as presented by Clifford Wright in his 2001 Mediterranean Vegetables, is out of bounds for this blog as it used ground meat in the filling. But we liked the idea and thought that we ought to be able to come up with a vegan version. To do this we fell back on one of our most useful tricks, substituting cooked buckwheat groats for the ground meat. And because of the different flavor, we also punched up the seasonings and flavors accompanying the buckwheat. The resultant dish was amazingly tasty and well worth a try in your kitchen.
A side note: as we were eating up the leftovers we wondered how this dish would work as a topping for nachos. It turns out very well, indeed. Just be sure to coarsely chop the escarole and mix into the filling before pitching onto your nacho chips.
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, in all
1 cup buckwheat groats
2 cups stock
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons golden raisins
¼ cup chopped black olives
¼ cup dried tomatoes, cut into strips
2 tablespoons flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 large heads escarole
Preheat over to 300º F.
In a medium saucepan, sauté dry buckwheat groats in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until toasted, about 2 minutes. Add in stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover pan, and cook until all of the water is absorbed and the groats are completely cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add in pine nuts, raisins, olives, dry tomatoes, parsley, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove any damaged outer leaves of the escaroles. Set each head on its stem end and flatten each leaf from the outside into the center without breaking them off. Place half of the buckwheat mixture into the center of each escarole head. Bring the leaves back together to enclose the filling and tie the leaves together with a piece of string.
Place the stuffed escarole heads on their sides in a casserole and garnish with the remaining olive oil. Cover tightly and bake approximately 40 minutes until the escaroles are tender. Serve immediately.
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