Erica’s Utica Italian Greens
My guess is that most of you probably don’t know what “Utica Greens” are. The fact is, up until I went to college in Utica, I didn’t know what they were either! This regional appetizer is a specialty that you’ll only find in Central NY, so when I moved away, I needed to find a recipe to fulfill my craving!
The typical Utica Greens are a sautéed mix of escarole, cherry peppers, bread crumbs, prosciutto, parmesan cheese and then broiled to form a golden crust on top. This signature dish is usually served as an appetizer, but sometimes can be found underneath an Italian chicken dish or scrambled in with eggs!
After hundreds of attempts, I believe that I’ve finally perfected the recipe and am I excited to share it with you!
Utica Greens in Baking Dish
Whether you live in Utica (and consider yourself a “greens connoisseur” ) or have never heard of this dish in your entire life, I encourage you to follow this recipe and enjoy a little Central NY legacy 🙂
Recipe: Utica Italian Greens
Ingredients
- 1 head Escarole
- 2 cups Chicken Stock
- 1 cup Water
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 3 Prosciutto thick slices
- 6 Sweet Cherry Peppers seeded and halved; sold in a jar
- 3 Hot Cherry Peppers seeded and halved; sold in a jar
- 1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano fresh grated
- EVOO
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees. Clean the escarole and remove the stems. You can do this a lot of different ways, but I prefer to take each leaf off, run it under water and scrub off the dirt. You can also put all the leaves in a bowl of water and let they dirt fall to the bottom. Break the escarole into smaller pieces (usually in half works).
- Heat about 1 tablespoon of EVOO in a deep skillet over medium low. Drop the minced garlic and prosciutto in. Once the prosciutto gets crispy, take out and set aside. Add the both the hot and sweet cherry peppers and continue to sauté. Once the start to soften, add the breadcrumbs and start toasting them in the pan.
- At the same time, bring the chicken stock and water to a boil. Drop the escarole in the boiling stock/water and boil for 3 minutes. This step is imperative since it will help remove any of the bitterness in the escarole.
- Drain the escarole and transfer it right to the sauté pan. Sauté around for 3 minutes and then add a splash of the juice from the hot cherry pepper jar. This is the secret to making the most unforgettable greens.
- Let the cherry pepper juice cook out a little bit and then stir in 2/3rd of the parmigiano-reggiano. Add the prosciutto back in and combine everything together.
- Put the greens in an oven safe baking dish and top with remained cheese. Bake until golden brown on top (about 8-10 minutes). Serve and enjoy!
Love always,
Erica
Erica, I was raised in the Utica area and had great friends who were Italian so I acquired a taste for Italian cooking, so greens, riggies and sausage bread are huge favorites in my home. I haven’t lived there in many years but still love the food and the area. Enjoying your site, thanks.:
Thanks Tim! How did you find me?!
Erica I am assuming when you say add everything back together in the casserole dish that includes the stock and the water after you use it for the escarole correct?
No! Don’t add the water or stock in the dish. It will be super watery. You want to discard that after you boil it.
You can also throw in some Cannellini beans (1/4 cup at most). Tony’s on Burrstone Road does it. I like Greens with our without the beans.
I have been going to a friends in C-NY for years and on saterday shopping outings in Utica we have been trying Greens at different places,and so far, Route 69 Steakhouse in Whitesboro NY has the best ! we also stop at the Friendly Bake Shop in Frankfort for some of their Pusties!
Cant wait to try your recipe Erica!!
The best Utica Greens can be found at Georgio’s in New Hartford, Georgio’s is on Genesee St in the village of New Hartford
Agree with Michelle, Georgio’s all the way!
Georgio’s hands down has the best . Many places in Syracuse try , but no one can get it right
chef joe morelle from utica ny perfected greens morelli many resturants in the area use his recipe but no one makes them like joey . thaks erica for your recipe
What is a Pustie??
lol come to utica ny and well show you just stop by carusos cafe or the florentine on bleker street . they have many to choose from youll love them also while here we will introduce you to tomato pie paul
This native Utican thinks it looks delicious. Thank you!!
I have looked for a recipe for greens for awhile. Made these the other day, perfect. Thank you!!
Thanks Amelia! I hope you’ll try out more of my recipes!
Also, if you aren’t already, please follow me on Facebook!
Can you use kale or collard greens?
I’ve never done that, so I can’t say! Honestly, escarole is just so perfect. Give it a try and let me know 🙂
Definitely you can use collards – make sure to cut into thin strips and discard stem. You might need to adjust braising time. Curly kale is not as good to sub for the escarole, but flat works! I only lived in Utica from the time I was ten, but I’ve made a lot of greens…
Interesting recipe. I’ll try it next time I make them I grew up in Utica but haven’t lived there for 25 years. Long before I found any online recipes for Utica greens, I made my own version. I still occasionally use escarole because it’s the traditional green but I prefer using rainbow chard instead. When I use chard, I do not boil the greens first. I’ve been using pancetta instead of prosciutto and it works quite well. Also I think you’ll find that in Utica pecorino romano and not parmesan reggiano is the cheese of choice. I use parmesan, pecorino or grana padano interchangeably in my recipes. I’ll have to try baking the greens as the last step. I’ve been preparing the whole thing stovetop where I mix in equal amounts of panko and grated cheese
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I love Utica Greens. I do hold out on the prosciutto usually. But what I love to do is put mozzarella cheese on top and put it in the oven for the cheese to melt. It’s absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing!
I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s parade, but if you pull up Google and type in Utica Greens or Utica Chicken Riggies ornUtica Tomato Pie, all the recipes come right up and they are pretty much spot on!
tried this recipe exactly as written last night and we ended up throwing it out! So salty it was inedible. Tried it again tonight and it was much better….used 3 slices of thick cut bacon instead…cooked separately and added at the end along with a little bacon grease. Looking forward to sharing this later tonight with friends…we are all from the Uticae area?
How many servings does this recipe make?
Enough for about 6 appetizers.
hi-do you know about how many people one head of escarole will feed (as a hearty side dish) for the Utica greens?
about 4!
made them and they were not spicy like the ones I had while in Canastota NY?