Get to Know Escarole with These Tasty Recipes Featuring the Underappreciated Leafy Green

In this one-pan weeknight dinner escarole revs up simple roasted chicken thighs and potatoes after a toss in the pan juices.

This colorful salad starts with escarole and features baby beets, which bring earthy sweetness, tossed with chopped dill, cherry tomatoes, and pungent blue cheese. A mild vinaigrette ties it all together.

A 25-minute riff on an Italian comfort food, this dish takes the favorite familiar flavors of the soup pasta e fagioli and turns them into a cheesy pasta with escarole and chickpeas.

With a bittersweet and slightly peppery flavor, escarole is popular in Italian cooking. This recipe calls for it to be sautéed until meltingly tender, so it makes a most delicious side dish.

Use a combination of escarole and dandelion or other bitter greens for this twist on a traditional Italian puntarelle salad. It gets an extra boost of savory umami flavor from capers swirled into the lemon-anchovy dressing. Creamy avocado and ribbons of shaved fennel and celery make a for a cool finish.

Savory provolone, dressed escarole and radicchio, and spicy red-pepper flakes are baked together on the crust. Before serving, sweeten and cool the assertive flavors on this pizza with randomly placed cherry-tomato halves.

This deliciously filling soup comes together in 25 minutes but tastes like it was slow cooked. It uses both canned chickpeas and canned kidney beans as well as escarole.

Don't let romaine and croutons have all the fun! Escarole and toasted walnuts also make a scrumptious Caesar salad.

Salmon fillets are topped with lemon slices and cooked on a bed of escarole, garlic, and red onion in a pot on the stove top. This quick one-dish meal is ready in 35 minutes.

Currants, anchovy fillets, garlic, and red pepper flakes are a classic flavor combination in Sicilian cuisine, and provide an excellent complement to mildly bitter escarole. A splash of sherry and a spoonful of brown sugar soften the flavors, and slivered almonds provide a pleasing crunch.

In this winter side dish, diced Granny Smith apples are sautéed with shallot until soft. Chopped escarole leaves are tossed with the hot apple mixture and a splash of cider vinegar and allowed to wilt before serving.

Upgrade your lunch by making this not-sad desk lunch with a fresh take on tuna salad which features apple and fennel in a light dressing. Undressed escarole leaves bring fresh crunch.

Escarole is added to each bowl right before serving, then the hot soup, packed with Italian sausage and pastina, ladled over the punchy greens.

This bright-tasting salad adds crunch to any winter meal. The lively vinaigrette is made with red-wine vinegar and mustard and any leftover can be used to dress greens or roasted vegetables.

Tossed with lemon juice and olive oil, escarole is the essential crunchy topping for this hearty stew. 

To make this easy and versatile side dish, escarole is sautéed with garlic and olive oil until tender. Serve with roast pork or broiled fish, or toss with hot cooked pasta.

Sweet butternut squash and creamy ricotta join sautéed escarole in this wintry vegetarian pasta dish. Toss the spaghetti in a light brown-butter sauce.

A sherry vinegar-shallot dressing complements the slight bitterness of escarole in this sophisticated salad, which takes just five minutes to prepare.

Here's a most delicious savory tart that's filled with a mixture of escarole, garlic, anchovies, Kalamata olives, and golden raisins. 

Spicy Italian sausage is cooked with a wine-cream sauce seasoned with parsley, rosemary, and red-pepper flakes. Escarole is added to the sauce and simmered just until wilted, and then rigatoni pasta is mixed in.