Stuffed Escarole with Sweet-and-Sour Agrodolce Sauce

African Cuisine

Stuffed Escarole with Agrodolce Sauce

medium

Difficulty

moderate

Costs

45 minutes

Cooking Time

Servings

Description

An Italian-inspired dish with sweet-and-sour flavors and earthy notes from escarole.

Instructions

Cut the dark green tops off the escarole heads, leaving a more compact thicket of leaves about 5 inches high. Remove any loose, outer leaves and rinse the interior of the head to remove sand or grit.
Set up a large bowl of ice water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Submerge 1 escarole head in the water and blanch for 1 minute. Transfer to the ice water to cool, then remove and gently squeeze to remove water. Repeat with remaining heads.
Mix the rice, pine nuts, raisins, dill, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
Open up the leaves of one escarole head and fill the center and between the larger inner leaves with 1 to 1.25 cups of the rice mixture. Close the head and use butcher's twine to hold it closed. Repeat with remaining escarole.
Position the oven rack to fit a large, covered pot. Heat the oven to 350F.
Bring the tomatoes, vinegar, and sugar to a simmer in a large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat.
Place the escarole bundles in the tomato mixture. Cover and bake until hot and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool in the pot for 5 minutes.
To serve, slice each stuffed escarole in half through the root, placing each half on a serving plate. Spoon the tomato sauce over and around the escarole halves.

Ingredients