Yiayia's Corfu Greens

This method came from the island of Corfu. It’s a one pot way to whip up a rich, flavorful dish with greens, especially our bitter greens like escarole, endive, and radicchio. It tames the bitter flavonoids and make the greens more approachable to a wider audience.

In a large, non-reactive pot add:

• 1.5 lbs of washed bitter greens  (or a mixture).
• 1.25 cups water
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbs black pepper
• 2.5 Tbs paprika
• 1 Tb cinnamon
• Heavy pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 6-7 roma tomatoes-diced finely

You don’t even need to stir this together, just cook it.

Boil for 20-30 min. The timing of this depends on the greens you’re cooking. More robust greens like escarole need 30 min. Beet tops need less.

Stir several times keeping an eye on the liquid .

Once the greens are cooked to your satisfaction, use tongs and remove them to a platter.

Once they’ve cooled a bit, put them on a cutting board and chop them into smaller pieces. Mouth feel matters!  Put them back on the platter.

Return the pot to the flame and reduce the liquid so only the oil and spices remain. Your goal is to cook off any water.

You’ll end up with an unctuous sauce you can spoon over the greens already arranged on the platter.

This is the perfect meal to eat with really good bread, sopping up the sauce as you go.  We rounded out the meal with cooked white beans.

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