The word pizza in Italian has a broader meaning than it does in English. Besides the savory disk we all know and love, it also refers to both savory and sweet confections that we would likely call ‘pies’ in English, including Angelina’s pizza dolce, which doesn’t even have a crust. Then there’s the classic pizza rustica, usually made for Easter, filled with cheeses and cured meats. One particularly good variation on the theme is this pizza di scarola, or escarole pie. It is, quite simply, a nice batch of scarola aglio e olio, with ‘the works’—olives, capers, anchovies, pine nuts and raisins—laid between two layers of pizza dough and baked in a moderate hot oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown. This pizza is associated with Christmas Eve dinner in Naples (which is meatless) but it’s so good you’ll want to have it all year ’round.
We’ve gone over the components for this dish before, in other guises, so our recipe can be quite short today:
Ingredients
Makes one pizza, enough to serve 4-6 as an appetizer or snack or as part of a buffet
1 batch pizza dough, either store-bought or homemade
1 head of escarole, sautéed aglio e olio style, with olive, capers, anchovies, pine nuts and raisins
Olive oil
Directions
Take half of the pizza dough and lay it out as flat as you can in a well-greased pie plate, making sure to cover the entire bottom and (if you can) the sides as well.
Spoon the sautéed escarole on top of the dough, making sure to leave a border of at least 3cm/1 in all around the edges.
Flatten out the other half of the dough into a roughly round disk, and lay it over the escarole. With your fingers, attach the edges of the bottom and top rounds of dough, squeezing and twisting the dough to seal it well.
Oil the top of your ‘pie’ and prick it with a sharp knife to make some air holes.
Bake in a moderately hot oven (190C/375F) for a good 30-45 minutes, or until the top is nice and golden brown. Let the pizza cool before eating it; it taste best either slightly warm or room temperature. It tastes fine made ahead of time as well.
Notes
The traditional recipe for pizza di scarola actually calls for unleavened dough rather than pizza dough. I really like using pizza dough, which is quite common these days, but if you want to try the original, mix 300g (10-1/2oz) flour with 30g (1-1/2 oz.) of lard, salt, pepper and the add enough warm water to make a dough. Then proceed as above. Some sources even indicate that the dough should be slightly sweet, with a bit a sugar added to the dough.
In her classic La cucina napoletana, Jeanne Caròla Francesconi, has a recipe for pizza di scarola, also called Gattò di scarola from the incomparable Ippolito Cavalcanti, perhaps the most famous Neapolitan chef of the 19th century. His version has no dough at all. It consists of mackerel fillets braised in tomato sauce with olive and capers, baked between two layers of escarole sautéed aglio e olio style, with anchovies, then topped with breadcrumbs. Sounds delicious—and it illustrates perfectly how flexible the term pizza really can be.
Pizza di scarola (Escarole Pie)
Ingredients
- 1 batch pizza dough either store-bought or homemade
- 1 head of escarole sautéed "aglio e olio style", with olive, capers, anchovies, pine nuts and raisins
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Take half of the pizza dough and lay it out as flat as you can in a well-greased pie plate, making sure to cover the entire bottom and (if you can) the sides as well.
- Spoon the sautéed escarole on top of the dough, making sure to leave a border of at least 3cm/1 in all around the edges.
- Flatten out the other half of the dough into a roughly round disk, and lay it over the escarole. With your fingers, attach the edges of the bottom and top rounds of dough, squeezing and twisting the dough to seal it well.
- Oil the top of your 'pie' and prick it with a sharp knife to make some air holes.
- Bake in a moderately hot oven (190C/375F) for a good 30-45 minutes, or until the top is nice and golden brown. Let the pizza cool before eating it; it taste best either slightly warm or room temperature. It tastes fine made ahead of time as well.
Notes
http://memoriediangelina.com/2012/09/30/scarola-aglio-e-olio-sauteed-escarole/ For details on sautéing the escarole, see: http://memoriediangelina.com/2009/08/03/angelinas-pizza-casareccia/
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32 Comments on “Pizza di scarola (Escarole Pie)”
Do you think this would be Good with other greens like kale or what else do you suggest if escarole is not available
Sure, other greens would work nicely. Chicory would be a fine choice, as would perhaps Swiss chard or spinach. I’ve never tried it with kale. If you do go that route, I’d opt for Tuscan aka “dinosaur” kale as it’s a bit more tender than other varieties. And it’s the kind of kale you can find in Italy, of course.
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my Aunt made this always but she also made Scallion pie too….pretty much the same way…I will never forget dinners at her home. She also made her own dough…I am not as successful with that I just cheat and buy from my local Pizza Place….
Sounds very nice, I love scallions! 🙂
My mom used to make this and we loved it. So glad I found the recipe. I hope it tastes like hers, but I have a feeling she did not use pizza dough for her pie crust. It had a very flaky texture.
Speaking of pizza dough, my mom’s always overflowed the bowl, mine never does. I use the same recipe and fresh yeast. Today I used your recipe and it barely doubled. What am I doing wrong?
Hmmm… hard to say. There are so many possible variables, but the most likely involves the yeast. I was going to ask whether the yeast had “died” but you say it was fresh? Perhaps just a bad batch? Otherwise I’d just give it more time to work. Some yeast is more fast acting than others. You might also use warm water, which helps to activate it. Or use more of it than called for here.
I wonder if you could do that with socca or farinata?
When I buy frozen pizza dough do I have to let it rise before making the pizza? I made it last week but the finished pizza just wasn’t right. I didn’t make it rise so I was just wondering.
what type of olives do you suggest for escarole pie?
I always use black olives, preferably the “Gaeta” type, but either green or black would work fine.
My grandmother (from Bari) used to make a similar double layered pizza. In the middle she had glazed onions, anchovies, and big green olives. But her pizza dough….it was out of this world! She lived to 93 but I was too young to be interested in recipes unfortunately and my mother never made the same dishes; she was more “Americanized.” Still, I know some recipes by what I remember eating at her house and I ate a lot of her pizzas! I haven’t checked out your pizza dough recipe yet, but I will. I did a post today on Escarole. Stop by. I think you will enjoy it ; – )
Your grandmother’s pizza sounds like calzone di cipolle alla pugliese, which we also have a recipe for here … http://memoriediangelina.com/2009/08/14/calzone-di-cipolla-alla-pugliese/
Looking forward to checking out your blog! Thanks for stopping by, Marcella.
Yes, I checked out the link you provided – thank you! It does sound alike. I am now following your blog because I want to be sure to get the recipe.
I’m so happy that I stopped by today. I haven’t had escarole pie in years…I’ll be making it soon.
That’s great, Karen!
Oh, I love escarole! If it’s just sautéed with some garlic and olive oil, it makes for a great side dish.
I have a question: I was browsing the sidebar and noticed that in the part where recipes are divided by region, there are no recipes from Calabria. Why is that?
Thanks, Alessandra! Well, to answer your question, I just haven’t gotten around to posting on any dishes from Calabria yet. To be honest, other than nibbling on some ‘nduja once (delicious!), it’s not a cuisine that I am very familiar with. But I’d like to know more, for sure!
This is one of my favorites! so easy and tasty!
One of mine, too!
Your recipe reminds me of pizza con la bieta, one of my favorite dishes when I was a kid. The dough was a pizza dough, like you use here. Both my mother and my aunt added a bit of strutto to it. I like raisins and pinenuts with greens.
Sounds delicious! Will have to give it a go some time soon.
We’ve been wondering what to have for dinner tonight – You may have just answered our question. Last summer we had scarola prepared exactly this way at the wonderful Roman restaurant Flavio al Velavevodetto. Delicious!
Indeed it is. :=) Thanks for stopping by!
sono a dieta ma una fetta di questa pizza di scarola la mangerei subito( anche 2 fette) ! Buona domenica Frank!
E perchè no? La domenica è meglio dimenticare la dieta!
Welcome to wordpress!!! It’s going to be so easy to check out and share from now on!!
Excellent, Arturo!
I had no idea about the pizza thing -good to know. This pizza is a great alternative to what most of us think of. It looks really good and so easy to prepare. Thanks for sharing Frank!
And thank *you* for stopping by, Nancy!
I quite love pizza di scarola. Something about the sweetness of the raisins, the crunchyness of the pinenuts and the soft bitterness of the escarole…
You’re so right… :=)