Steps

• Clean the escarole by removing the outer leaves, if necessary.

  Wash it, the whole head, and let it drain to remove excess water. Better yet, pat it with a cloth.
  Be careful not to break the head, as large and heavy as the one I used is indeed not very handy to handle while washing.

  Prepare the filling.
  Consider that the quantities I gave are indicative, if you feel like putting three fewer olives or one more tablespoon of Parmesan, I believe it makes little difference, also because you will have to adjust based on the size of the escarole.

  Chop two cloves of garlic.

  Grate the Parmesan.
  Or alternatively the pecorino.

  Cut the olives into pieces.
  As I did, otherwise leave them whole, obviously pitted, as per the original recipe. Also, I’m told that if you find Gaeta olives, those are the ones to use, but I used the more common black olives.

  Desalinate the capers. If, like me, you have to use those in vinegar, rinse them anyway with water, preferably cold.
  I had to use vinegar capers because on Christmas Eve there was no longer a single package of salt-preserved capers in the entire supermarket.

  Finally… don’t forget the pine nuts!
  When I photographed the dish you see in the photo below, I didn’t notice that the pine nuts were missing! I justify myself by saying that at that moment it was 11 on Christmas morning, and I was a bit in a hurry to proceed… 😅😀

  

• Stuff the escarole with all the ingredients, placing them in the center of the head, add a sprinkle of pepper (optional).

  (I will open a parenthesis about anchovy: it is included in the true original recipe, but here at our home no one likes it, not even me, so no anchovy in our non-original stuffed escarole. Apart from the small detail that salt-preserved anchovies in a low-sodium kitchen are a bit less recommended -as indeed are capers and olives, but today let’s not be too strict- and so for us, it’s better this way in the end, that we don’t like anchovies 😀).

  Close the head and tie it with a piece of kitchen twine. Secure it as tightly as possible so that during cooking the filling does not spill out. If you use smaller escarole heads, instead of this gigantic one I used, it will certainly be easier to tie them.

  Brown the head, nicely closed, in a pan with a little oil and a chopped garlic clove.

  Turn the escarole to brown it on all sides, then cover with a lid.

  

• As you can see from the photos, since I didn’t have a lid suitable to cover this giant escarole, I adapted by using a Pyrex bowl as a lid. It worked great, and I am quite proud of it! 😀

  Cook with the ‘lid’ closed for about half an hour on low heat.

  Once cooked, cook uncovered for a few minutes to evaporate any moisture, gently turning the escarole on all sides with a spatula.

  Remove the twine.

  Serve hot.

  

• For me, the look is bizarre and beautiful. 😍

  Maybe because vegetables always whet my appetite, even when they’re not too pretty to look at, but this stuffed escarole, though not very attractive and full of flaws, was liked by everyone here! Dads, moms, brothers, sisters-in-law, and even husbands! Let’s not talk about children and nephews who didn’t even see my stuffed escarole, because – as every year – after eating the cappelletti, they were already full and got up from the table eight courses before us… 😄

  But anyway, trust me: this stuffed escarole, which I don’t have the courage to call stuffed, is a delight!
  And if there are leftovers, you can bake it the next day with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs, and it’s delicious again (unfortunately no picture, we ate it and moved on, but I repeat: it was delicious!).