Escarole is a leafy green vegetable. I was first introduced to it in lentil soup, Progresso to be precise, which I ate with slices of whole wheat toast as a winter after school snack. I rediscovered it in my local supermarket and it tends to be on sale often. Its a bit temperamental as a vegetable - if you cook it even a tiny bit too long, it acquires a bitter aftertaste. So the key to this recipe really is simple: add the escarole at the very last minute.
The following recipe is a meld of two foods I enjoy - lentil soup and yellow daal (an Indian pea soup). It has a lot of meatiness in the sausage and chicken broth and requires very little seasoning.
Escarole, Sausage, and Split Pea Stew
Serves four, about an hour
1/2 pound (1 cup) of dried split yellow peas
1/2 pound of sausage (I used breakfast sausage, but italian is good too)
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, cut into coins
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 head escarole, sliced into 1/4 inch ribbons, no longer than 2 inches
5 leaves lettuce (Optional: if you have a small head of escarole or want to mellow the flavor)
- Boil three cups of water. Soak the dried split peas
- Prep all vegetables and remove the sausage from the casing
- Heat a stockpot on medium. When hot, add the sausage, crumbling into small pieces.
- When the sausage is mostly cooked through, add the onion, carrots, and garlic. Saute until onion is cooked through.
- Drain the split peas and rinse.
- Add the chicken broth, water, bay leaf, curry, and the split peas. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until lentils are cooked through and are soft.
- Add the escarole and lettuce and stir to incorporate. Cook for about 3 minutes and serve with crusty bread.
- Can be served as a hearty side, a chunky stew, or pureed with more water as a creamy soup.
