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Escarole Pizza

17/11/2023

Escarole pizza is a traditional Neapolitan recipe that is mainly prepared during the Christmas period. It is a rustic pie stuffed with stewed escarole and other tasty ingredients like anchovies, capers, and olives.

Ingredients

  • 500 g of bread dough or pizza dough
  • 1 kg of escarole
  • 100 g of pitted black olives
  • 30 g of salt-packed capers
  • 8 anchovy fillets in oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Pine nuts and raisins (optional)

Preparation

  1. Clean and wash the escarole well, then cook it in a pan with a drizzle of oil and the garlic cloves until it has wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

  2. To the escarole, add the pitted olives, capers rinsed under running water to desalt them, and chopped anchovy fillets. If you want an extra touch, you can enrich the filling with pine nuts and raisins previously soaked in warm water. Let everything stew for a few minutes so the flavors blend well.

  3. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C.

  4. Roll out half of the dough in a previously oiled pan, creating a uniform base that also covers the edges.

  5. Spread the stewed and seasoned escarole over it, then cover with the other half of the rolled-out dough.

  6. Seal the edges of the pizza by pinching them together, prick the surface with the tines of a fork to prevent it from puffing up during baking, and if you like, brush it with a little oil.

  7. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the surface is golden brown.

  8. Serve the escarole pizza hot or at room temperature.

Curiosity

Escarole Pizza, despite its name, does not have much in common with the pizza as we usually know it. It is more of a “savory pie” or a baked stuffed calzone. The presence of escarole, combined with other typical ingredients of Neapolitan cuisine, makes it a dish rich in flavor and tradition.