Utica Greens

Ingredients

  • Breadcrumbs - 1/2 cup (or 1/4 cup Panko, 1/4 cup Italian)
  • Kale, spinach, mustard greens, or escarole (NOT lettuce or cabbage) - 2 bunches (1 head of escarole)
  • Pancetta, prosciutto, or bacon - 2 ounces (2 slices of bacon), chopped
  • Parmesan cheese - heavy 1/3 cup, grated
  • Oregano - 1/2 tsp
  • Ground pepper - 1/2 tsp
  • Sea salt - 1 tsp (or 2 tsp kosher salt)
  • Olive oil - 2 TBSPs
  • Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
  • Onion - 1 small, chopped
  • Jalapeno or pickled cherry peppers - 1 pepper (1 TBSP), chopped

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  2. In a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, and 1 TBSP of olive oil. The mixture should look like wet sand. Set aside.
  3. Add 1 TBSP of olive oil, the bacon, onion, peppers/jalapenos, and garlic to a broiler safe pan. Cook on medium/high heat until the bacon is crispy and the onions are softened. Add everything to the pan at the same time and turn off the heat when done.
  4. Wash the greens and cut out the large stems. There will be a large pile of greens before they cook down.
  5. Set the broiler to high heat.
  6. Add the greens to the boiling water. Cook for 2-5 minutes until they are bright green and cooked through. Turn off the heat.
  7. Dump the cooked greens into a colander and cool them down with cold water. Squeeze the water out and shape the greens into a ball about the size of a softball. Chop up the ball of greens.
  8. Add the greens to the broiler safe pan, spreading them evenly over the other ingredients. Then add half of the breadcrumb mixture to the pan and (thoroughly) mix everything together.
  9. Spread the remaining half of the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the pan.
  10. Put the uncovered pan in the broiler (middle rack) and cook for 3-5 minutes until brown on top.