Escarole Loaded Tomato Sauce with Fresh Basil

Our home of the moment on this nomadic adventure is Utica, New York.  We've only been here a few weeks (and only here for about one more), but in that little time, it's become obvious that Utica has about three claims to fame: beer, the Boilermaker, and Utica Greens.  Since we didn't sign up in time for the Boilermaker, and I'm not a big fan of beer, I've been focusing on the latter.  I'm from Central New York, so I've experienced Utica Greens before- in fact, I've made my own "healthified" version before.  I had no idea though that Utica Greens are on the menu of just about every restaurant in the Utica/New Hartfod area. Each restaurant has its own proportion of ingredients, which largely stay the same no matter the maker.  Those key ingredients are escarole, hot cherry peppers, Parmesan/Romano, prosciutto, and bread crumbs.  Since we've been here, we've sampled a few variations on the weekends, but they are a little too indulgent for my normal weekdays.

 Still, I've got escarole and cherry peppers on my mind, even if I don't want to douse them in cheese and breadcrumbs.  I had some calamari in the freezer, which made me think marinara sauce, and combined that thought with my obsession with escarole.  I made the sauce completely separate from the calamari, and had enough for the next night's dinner as well, where it was combined with rotisserie chicken (on sale for $2.20!! can't beat that).  I just took some meat off of the chicken and threw it into the sauce as it was reheating.  It would also be great with meatballs, as a dip for bread, rolled up in roasted eggplant pieces, or on spaghetti squash (or pasta if you're into that ;-)).  And though I avoided adding cheese on this particular occasion, some Parmesan would make an excellent addition.

Ingredients:

1-2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced thinly
1/2 head of garlic, cloves peeled and sliced
1/4 cup sliced hot cherry peppers, fresh or pickled *
2 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 LARGE or 2 small heads escarole, WASHED and torn into large chunks**
salt and black pepper to taste
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomato
5 anchovies, or a scant tablespoon anchovy paste
10-15 kalamata olives, sliced
1/2 cup fresh basil, sliced

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot.  Add onions and garlic.  Saute for a couple minutes, then add cherry peppers and saute for another couple minutes.  Add tomatoes and stir.  Add escarole, stirring as you add.  It won't all fit in the pot all at once, but as it wilts, you'll be able to add more.  Once all of the escarole is added, add the can of crushed tomato, the anchovy paste, and the kalamata olives.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and let it continue to simmer for 20-30 minutes, uncovered unless it starts to get too thick.  Stir every now and then as it simmers.  Add the fresh basil, reserving a little for garnish if desired.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

*this will make it HOT, so use less or omit if you don't want spicy
**if your escarole looks like it is lost in the tomato sauce because you didn't have a big enough head, you can add in some romaine lettuce leaves to up the green proportion.  I did this and couldn't even tell what was romaine and what was escarole when I was eating. :-)

*Mildly* Hot Pepper Sauce

I bought some bags of small peppers because they were fresh and a good price- perfect excuse to try out some "hot" pepper sauce.  I put the hot in quotations because these little peppers are really only mildly hot.  They definitely have a bit more zip to them than bell peppers, but are not as hot as jalepenos.  I think they may be fresno peppers, but not sure.  Anyway, you could try using jalepenos, anaheim chiles, or banana peppers, or a mix to create a nice level of heat.

What you need:

A couple cups of small mildly hot peppers, stems removed
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1/2 head garlic, cloves peeled
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
1 large tomato, quartered
Olive oil spray
Salt, pepper
Cider vinegar
Soy sauce or Ketjap Manis (I had never heard of this until I was on Saba, but it is similar to soy sauce, it is just a bit sweeter and more complexly flavored)

Heat oven to 450 or broil setting on HIGH.  Grease a cookie sheet or 13 x 9 pan with the olive oil spray.  Place half of the peppers, the onion, garlic, celery, and tomato on the pan, spreading everything out evenly.  Spray with oil again and season with salt and pepper.  Bake or broil for about 15 minutes, stirring once.  The vegetables should be blackened in areas, but not completely burnt or at all dried out.  Remove from oven and let cool a bit.

Chop the remaining peppers until rough chunks and place in blender.  Add the roasted vegetables plus a few tablespoons of cider vinegar and 2-3 teaspoons soy sauce or ketjap manis.  Blend on pulse setting, adding either more vinegar (if you think it can take extra vinegar flavor) or water until a smooth but thick sauce results.  Add more pepper if you think it needs it, or try adding some other spices too.  Enjoy!