Pizza ‘e scarole – pizza with endive– is one of the most characteristic pizzas of the Neapolitan tradition. Endive, raisins and a good dough are certainly the basis for this delicacy, but- like everything in the Neapolitan- everyone prepares it “in their own way”. Pizza with endive is really a timeless classic: today we retrace its history until we get to the preparation!
A bit of history
The Neapolitans, before the ‘700’, that is, before going down in history as the ‘maccheroni mangiaheroni,’ were known as the ‘mangiafoglie’, because their diet consisted mainly of vegetables.
Women of the “vasci” (the Neapolitan basses) would fry, in the lard, the ‘pizzelle” with herbs with a bitter aftertaste. The favorite vegetables of the Neapolitans were, and still are, the friarielli and the scarole.
-Sabap.na
It is well known to the Neapolitans that the pizza of scarole is actually a typical preparation of the Christmas period; however it is possible to find it in the rotisseries all the year round. During the holidays tradition wants mother-in-law and mother to prepare it, the reason? Must “know the house”!
There are several variations: higher, lower, with more or less filling, with and without raisins, with and without anchovies…In short, when it comes to pizza is just the case to say: de gustibus!
Let’s take a look at the classic recipe:
Ingredients
1 kg of flour
1 brewer’s yeast
Lukewarm water
6 scraps
100 grams of black olives
50 grams of capers
50 grams of raisins and pine nuts
3 fillets of desalinated anchovies
garlic
oil
salt and pepper to taste
Method
First, clean and wash the escarole, boil in salted water and squeeze gently. Meanwhile prepare the dough for the pizza and let it rise. Once set aside the dough, fry the garlic and oil. When the garlic has browned, pour in the escarole, pitted olives, raisins, pine nuts, anchovies and a pinch of pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes.
At this point, roll out the pizza dough with your hands and place half of it in a pan previously greased with oil. Pour the escarole and cover with the other half of the dough well laid out. Bake for about 40 minutes.