I'm happy to be the first to review this recipe. It is delicious! We live in a predominantly Italian area of northeastern Ohio and my husband and I have enjoyed this soup in several area restaurants... this version is very authentic tasting. Just be sure to have warm crusty bread on hand and if you're like my husband extra red pepper flakes:) Next time I make it he said be sure to double it!
My grandmother used to make this (using any kind of pork she happened to have on hand or meatless) all of the time and -- specifically because escarole is too bitter for my taste -- I never liked it and have always "adapted" her recipe by substituting spinach for it. But my husband likes escarole (he orders it every time we go to dinner at a local Italian restaurant) so the other day when escarole was on sale for 0.79 per pound and a bag of spinach was selling for 2.99 I thought I'd give him a thrill. I par-cooked 3 boneless pork chops (instead of the bacon) in a little bit of butter and a splash of olive oil added a handful of baby carrots and a T. of granulated sugar to my pot and cooked everything together for 45 minutes. My husband loved it and promised that if I would make this for him at least "sometimes" he'd never ever again spend 6.95 for a bowl of escarole soup (sounds like a plan). As for me? I still don't like escarole but prepared this way I had to begrudgingly admit that it was at least "quite edible".
This recipe is awesome i made it for my family a few times. I also used Smoked pork hocks (yea sounds gross lol) but it gave it a really good flavor in stead of the bacon. I also cut small pieces of ham in it. Guess what is for dinner tonight:)
I substituted the escarole with spinach because I did not want to chance the bitterness of the escarole. The entire family loved the recipe including my wife and our 11 year old.
I found this receipe to be great. Good to bring to the office for lunch. I added bulgar and it was fantastic. Good with just using vegatable broth and my vegan neice says it's the best.
This makes four small servings - fine for a side or a starter but if you're making this your main meal double the recipe. We added extra hot pepper flakes and a pinch of salt to our bowls.
Really great flavor from the escarole Added another can of chicken broth and a chicken bouillon cube at the simmer stage for even more flavor.
Delicious - a light soup with a nice garlic flavor. Skipped the red pepper because we don't like it and we didn't miss it at all. Did not find the escarole bitter either. Enjoyed it very much.
Delicious but what do you do with the bacon? It doesn't say if you're supposed to throw it out or put it back in at the end...I used pancetta and put it back in but it got really bacon-y after a day so I might skip that step altogether next time.
