PicoBlog

The blinding romance with which some people see the great Roman pasta dishes, French haute cuisine, or the precision of a Michelin-star kitchen …

I feel the same way about the food in Upstate New York. Utica is like Provence to me. There are at least 3 dishes endemic to Utica, New York. This is not a very high number, but that is about 3 more than you would expect in an average city of 60,000 people. Certainly, you see a more robust culture and overall pride around the local food than in most places.

While I see Utica in a constellation of Upstate ingenuity (see: Buffalo wings, Chicken Spiedies, Rochester Garbage Plates) it’s also a shining example of some of the best Italian-American cooking traditions the East Coast has to offer. I didn’t take an interest in Utica until I fell in love with cherry peppers in Philadelphia. Both towns share an affinity for the ingredient as well as for very sharp cheese, and generally just good hot comforting food.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you may remember my Utica-inspired pop-up at Dinner Party in Brooklyn. I pretty much covered it all: tomato pie, greens, chicken riggies, and Utica’s “halfmoon” bizarro version of black and white cookies. The greens are the stand-out for me, and you can make my most basic version with the recipe below.

Ingredients:

1 head escarole, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 slices prosciutto, diced

1/2 of a medium onion, diced

Salt to taste

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp cherry peppers, sliced. use hot or sweet, whatever you like

1/2 cup chicken stock, veggie stock, or water

For the breadcrumb mixture:

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup pecorino cheese (i always eyeball this to be honest with you)

1/4 tsp oregano

You will also need a lot more pecorino for topping the greens. There is no use measuring this. Use as much as you like, but they use a lot in Utica. So do I.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in your chopped escarole and let cook for two minutes. Remove to a colander and run under cool water in the sink. Set aside!

Place an oven-proof skillet over medium-low heat. Ideally, this will be your broiling and eventual serving vessel. An 8 or 9-inch skillet is perf. Coat the pan with the olive oil and add in your prosciutto. Cook, stirring often, until the prosciutto crisps and renders a little fat.

Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, stirring occasionally. Now add the cherry peppers and garlic, and cook just until the garlic is fragrant. Add in your stock or water followed by the reserved greens.

In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, pecorino, and oregano. Add half to the pan and mix to incorporate. Taste for seasoning and make sure the greens mixture is spread evenly. Top with the rest of your breadcrumb mixture, followed by an additional showering of pecorino cheese.

This needs to get crispy on the top. I usually throw it under a hot broiler, but I won’t be giving times as every broiler is different. You should check it every minute or so, and it will probably happen fast. If you don’t want to use a broiler, I’ve had success putting this in a 425° oven for 10 or 15 minutes.

Serve hot! Something I’ve been doing recently is eating this with a cherry pepper on the side, drizzling my plate with the juices it provides.

Note: If I have white beans, chickpeas, or maybe cooked potatoes lying around, I sometimes add in after the stock for a heartier situation. Mess around!

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