Scarola alla Napoletana; Escarole and Spinach with Olives, Capers, Anchovy and Preserved Lemon

Last year I visited Naples Italy for the first time. After a lengthy journey from Los Angeles, I met up with my mother at the Rome train station and together we took the high-speed train to Naples.

I was so fried from the 24 hours of travel that I could barely think straight, let alone figure out where to have dinner. Normally I have a carefully curated list of restaurants in a neat little (self) printed booklet I make before every trip. This time I had too much drama in the days leading up to the trip and I never managed to finish my list. Nor could we access the internet for any research, so we wandered around the area, looking at menus, searching for something which appealed and wasn’t too touristy. Exhausted, all I wanted was a plate of pasta and a bed.

We came across the Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, located across from Piazza Bellini and underneath the archway leading to the street connecting to Piazza Dante and just stopped, sitting under heat lamps outside in the chilly night. Wrecked from not sleeping for almost 30 hours by this point, I ordered my old standby, Penne alla Arribiata, a pasta in a spicy tomato sauce. This is one of those classic dishes by which you can judge a restaurant. It’s simple, but they have to get it right and fortunately, they did.

My mother had a very tasty Fettuccine with Porcini mushrooms in a cream sauce, but the stars of the meal were the contorni (vegetables) we ordered. The first was a side of escarole, sauteed with anchovies, capers, and black olives served warm. This dish was absolutely fantastic, all the salty additions contrasted so nicely with the bitter greens. We also had spinach sauteed with chunks of garlic, olive oil and lemon which, while surprisingly served cold, was still very tasty. I knew right then I had to try and recreate these vegetables.

Recently we had a small dinner party and I finally had the opportunity to make the escarole now that it’s in season again. For this dish, I’ve combined the best of both contorni by adding the lemon and spinach to the escarole. I think the spinach tempers the bitterness of the escarole a bit.  Because southern Italian food is influenced by North African food, I added the preserved lemon, but if you don’t have any, you can substitute a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice. Everyone loved the greens and they were just as good, if not better, than I remembered.

Have you ever successfully recreated a dish you’ve eaten on your travels or in your favorite restaurant? What was it?

Print Recipe

Escarole alla Napoletana; Escarole with Olives, Capers, Anchovy and Preserved Lemon

Recipe for Scarola alla Napoletana; Escarole and Spinach with Olives, Capers, Anchovy and Preserved Lemon

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: anchovies, escarole, lemon, sauteed

Ingredients

• 1 head escarole about 12-16 oz whole
• 5 oz baby spinach cleaned
• 1 oz black olives oil cured or kalamata
• 1 each anchovy minced or 1 tsp anchovy paste
• 1 tsp capers
• 1/2 each preserved lemon |http://www.formerchef.com/2012/01/23/how-to-make-preserved-meyer-lemons/| peel only, diced small
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions

• Cut the end off the escarole and cut the leaves into 3" pieces. Rinse in a colandar under cold running water and allow to drain.
• Remove the pits from the olives and rough chop or quarter them. Mince the garlic and dice the preserved lemon, peel only (discard the pulpy part).
• Make sure you have all your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking. Heat a large saute pan or wok and add the olive oil.
• Add the garlic, olives, capers, lemon and cook for about 30 seconds over medium heat, stirring constantly, taking care not to burn the garlic.
• Add in the anchovy (or anchovy paste) and then throw in the escarole, using tongs to combine the greens with the other ingredients. It's going to look like a lot of greens in the beginning, but they will wilt.
• Once the escarole is cooked, add the spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted. Serve immediately.

Notes

Note; because of the ingredients, extra salt is not needed.