Escarole and bacon pie

Known locally as escarole pizza, this typical recipe from Campania is a Christmas treat. Indeed, between December and January, escarole reaches full maturity and wherever the temperature is not too harsh, this is the best type of salad vegetable to eat through the winter. It is actually a variety of endive looking rather like a lettuce except that its leaves are of a lighter green colour. Escarole is not eaten raw but cooked – tossed in the pan – generally with sultanas and anchovies. The taste of escarole tends to be bitter so its pairing with sultanas is in fact an ideal one.   

Escarole pizza is actually a double crust pie made from a sheet of pastry. Its filling of escarole, anchovies, sultanas and bacon makes it tasty, substantial and satisfying. 

The recipe takes two hours to prepare and bake, comprising the time needed to allow the dough to rise. If you wish to take a short cut, you can use ready-made short crust pastry or the leavened bread dough available at the baker’s. 

Even though it is quite rich and filling, escarole pizza is served as a starter to Christmas dinner, but nothing prevents you from using it as a complete meal for a family supper or as finger food for brunch. Once prepared, escarole pizza can be kept in the fridge – well wrapped in cling film – for two or three days. It can also be frozen and brought out when required. 

The Recipe:

To make the bread dough, start by dissolving the yeast in water. Then put the flour into a sufficiently large bowl and add the oil, a pinch of salt and a little sugar. Start to combine the ingredients, adding the water and yeast gradually. Bring the dough together until you obtain a smooth ball which detaches itself easily from the edges of the bowl. Then transfer the dough to the worktop and go on kneading for a few minutes.  

Now place the resulting dough in a bowl covered with a clean tea cloth and leave it to rest for one hour, at least, in a warm place. The dough should double in volume.  

In the meantime get on with the escarole. Wash it well and chop it roughly. Heat a non-stick pan on the hob and gently fry two cloves of garlic in a trickle of olive oil until they turn golden. Then add the anchovies and cook until they dissolve, followed by the Negroni pancetta cut into thin strips. In the space of a few seconds, it is time to add the escarole. Lower the heat slightly and let it cook. The escarole will reduce in volume. As soon as it is soft, add the olives, pine nuts and sultanas. Let everything go on cooking for a further ten minutes, stirring from time to time. If it seems too sweet when you taste it, add another half fillet of anchovy. The escarole needs to dry out well.  

When the escarole is cooked, remove from the heat and let it cool until barely warm. In the meantime, roll out the pastry sheet. You will need two pastry rounds or rectangles according to the shape of your pie dish.  

Grease the pie dish, arrange the first piece of pastry on the bottom and add the vegetable filling. Cover with the other pastry round, seal the edges carefully and cut small slits on the surface to allow the steam to escape before brushing with E.V.O. oil or a beaten egg. Bake in an oven preheated to 180° C for 40 minutes.