Escarole, Beans, Ham Hocks, Italian Sausage

One of our favorite foods that grandma would send home with dad on a cold winter day was her scrumptious escarole with beans. 'Scarole she would call it (pronouncing it schkarole).  It is a simple peasant dish - I call it "Italian soul food."  It is one of those hearty soups that taste even better  the next day...but who can wait 'till tomorrow?

Ideally it is made with pigs feet or ham hocks.  (Why is it the feet belong to a pig, but the hocks belong to a ham?)  They should be FRESH as opposed to smoked.  Fresh frozen is OK.  NOT SMOKED*(see note below). During a shortage of hocks, like we happen to have tonight (it is like 19 degrees out, so I'm not venturing out to the supermarket) I use Italian sausage.  Sausage makes a tasty escarole and bean soup, but the ham hocks really give it a different dimension. I like to combine both - yum.

If using three or four hocks, boil them first for while and skim off the foam/protein (mom called it la schiuma skee-uma) that floats to the top; do this several times. Continue to boil the hocks until they are cooked through and the meat almost falls off the bone, about an hour or more.  If using sausage, fry up the sausage (preferably hot) in a skillet with a touch of olive oil.  If it is sweet sausage, add to the fry pan some red pepper flakes or one of those hot peppers from the garden that you dried or froze last October.

Wash and drain a couple of large heads of escarole - it is like a head of leaf lettuce, only heartier and crisper.  Chop very coarsely.

Then, in a large pot, drizzle plenty of olive oil - enough to coat the bottom of the pot - and saute some more garlic (3 or 4 cloves) and red pepper flakes to taste.  Toss in the wet escarole and it will make a nice skoosh when it hits the hot oil.  Stir it around until it begins to wilt.  Add three or four 15oz. cans of Cannellini beans (white kidney beans).

There are no rules: you like beans, you add more;  you like escarole, you add more.  You like potatoes, add some diced potatoes.  

Get out the black pepper grinder and pepper those beans with fresh ground black pepper.  Now there are food snobs that insist on certain kinds of pepper corns, imported from exotic places, that have exotic prices. Me, I get mine at Ocean State Job Lot where all their spices are, like 88 cents. Or at Costco for a bit more.

Add the sausage and/or ham hocks to the pot and let the soup simmer - if using hocks, add some or all of the broth the hocks cooked in and continue to simmer the soup until the meat falls off the bone with a little help.  If using only sausage, add two to four cups of water (or stock), depending on how soupy you prefer the final dish. You like soupy?  Adjust with water or ham hock broth.  With sausage, you need to only simmer for 30-45 minutes, if you are really hungry. Otherwise simmer for up to an hour.  Serve with crusty Italian bread or French baguettes.  Or serve over pasta.  

Tonight's sausage version needs more escarole, for my taste;  Leon likes the beans.

If you use hocks or pigs' feet, the leftover soup will gelatinize.  The gelatin will melt when you re-heat it. It is arguably better re-heated the next day.

This is a picture of escarole and bean soup with ham hocks and sausage from my archives:

Dinner's ready, Buon' Appetito!  

P.S. Now this dish is one that turned Leon into an Italian (his ancestry is Northern Irish - mixed American ancestry). And still gives me some power.  He is so grateful for this tasty dish, he's out doing the dishes as I type.

*Note: Grandma did not use smoked ham hocks, so that's what I'm going by....PLUS I personally have an aversion to smoked food of any kind, be it smoked meats, smoked cheese, smoke flavored chips, even smoke flavored dog treats (not that I eat dog treats, just the smell is unpleasant). 

 

Hell, I don't even like sitting around a campfire because then, when I go back to the RV, I have to leave my clothes outside and take a shower before going to bed. I just don't like the taste or smell of smoke!