How about making escarole strudel pizza together? Escarole pizza is a dish from the Neapolitan tradition: a leavened savory pie filled with escarole, olives, capers, pine nuts and anchovies (which I did not add). It’s ideal served in slices as an appetizer or as a main course, just like a pizza. A funny name — is it a pizza or a strudel? — but I wanted to bring the escarole pizza to the table while also making a savory strudel. So here is the escarole strudel pizza.
The dough is a leavened dough similar to pizza dough, with a vegetable filling. It is usually prepared in a round shape, with dough on the bottom and top, sealed around the edges. You can choose the shape you prefer.
If you like savoury strudels like I do, also try these:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 329.04 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 47.43 (g) of which sugars 3.57 (g)
- Proteins 9.50 (g)
- Fat 11.48 (g) of which saturated 1.34 (g)of which unsaturated 2.78 (g)
- Fibers 3.99 (g)
- Sodium 263.66 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients Escarole Strudel Pizza
- 3 1/3 cups type 2 flour
- 1 cup water (room temperature)
- 1 tsp malt (or sugar)
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 14 oz escarole (endive) (washed and cleaned)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp raisins (about 0.5 oz)
- 1 tbsp capers (salt-packed)
- 3 oz Gaeta olives
- 2 tbsp pine nuts (about 0.75 oz)
- 1 pinch sea salt
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Kitchen Roll Holder
- 1 Jar
- 1 Cutting board
Preparation steps
In a small glass, dissolve the dry yeast with a little warm water and the malt. In a mixer or by hand, mix the flour with the dissolved yeast and the rest of the water and knead for a few minutes. Add the oil and finally the salt; knead until the dough is well developed, or knead by hand.
Place in an oiled bowl and close well (I find Stefanplast bowls with lids perfect, so I avoid using plastic wrap).
Let rise in the oven turned off for a couple of hours.
Meanwhile, wash and cut the escarole into pieces. Rinse and squeeze the capers well and chop them together with the olives.
In a large saucepan pour a drizzle of oil, add a clove of garlic and let it flavor the oil. Add the capers and olives and sauté for a few minutes. Add the pine nuts, escarole and raisins. Be careful with adding much salt because the olives and capers are already salty. Season everything, cover and cook about 15 minutes until the escarole is tender. In the last minutes remove the lid and let the cooking water evaporate. Let the filling cool slightly and squeeze it a little if it is too wet.
After the two hours, deflate the dough and roll it out as if it were strudel pastry. Place the escarole filling in the center, level it well and close the escarole strudel pizza.
Dust with a pinch of flour and let rise well covered for another half hour. Bake in the oven at 392°F for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on a rack. Slice and serve.
Timo & Lenticchie Tips
The escarole strudel pizza is excellent served warm. It keeps well in the refrigerator for a couple of days; reheat it in the oven for ten minutes before serving. If you don’t want to make the escarole strudel pizza, you can opt for the classic round pizza shape, placing the filling between two disks of dough and sealing well before baking.
