Here is another hearty meal you have to prepare at home. I don’t know any restaurant that prepares this.This is the perfect meal to enjoy during these long, cold, winter months in the North East. * If you have a hard time finding the ring of cheese and parsley sausage in your area, regular sweet or hot Italian sausage will do as well. It’s not only important to use good quality ingredients but the technique in cooking this dish is also important. I’ll explain in the recipe.

When my grandmother prepared scarola, she would saute some garlic in olive oil in a large pot. Then she would add the scarola with some water and salt. She cooked it till it was tender. We would enjoy her scarola in a bowl with plenty of the liquid. We added extra olive oil and dipped our bread in it. She made it every time for me when I was sick. It became one of my comfort foods. Other members of my family would make scarola and add sausage and beans to the dish. They would remove all of the liquid. Then, they would saute the scarola on medium high heat until the beans broke up. The beans would get incorporated into the scarola. Adding some grilled sausage made this a delicious one pan meal.

• 1 ring of cheese and parsley Italian sausage*
• 1 large head of escarole
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 chicken bullion cube
• 1 cup water
• 1 can of cannellini beans, drained
• 1/4 cup olive oil plus extra for drizzle
• red pepper flakes to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Use a large 14″ skillet to prepare this recipe. It has to be large enough to hold all the ingredients. First brown the sausage on medium high heat about 4 minutes on each side. Remove the sausage to a plate and put aside till later.

In the same pan add the extra virgin olive oil and saute the garlic for about 1 minute. Add the washed escarole with one cup of water and chicken bullion cube. Cover the pan and cook down the escarole for about 10 minutes. While the escarole is cooking remove the skewers from the sausage that are holding the ring together. Cut the sausage into 1-2″ pieces.

Once the escarole is tender add the beans. Turn up the heat to medium high and cook off most of the liquid while stirring. Cook till the beans start to break up. Add back the sausage and any liquid from the dish. Reduce the heat and cook till everything comes together and the sausage is heated through. Drizzle with some more olive oil and taste for salt and pepper.

Serve with a crisp loaf of Italian bread and enjoy!