I’d been craving escarole in soup for years—hence the long search for organic escarole. There’s just something about escarole in a soup that is so clean and nourishing. When I served this soup at dinner (along with some garlic-butter toast) it was accompanied only by a long silence and the sounds of slurping and the scraping of spoons on bowls. You can make it with store-bought chicken broth, but there is nothing quite like a homemade broth—plus, it’s so freaking easy. Well, it can be a bit of a mess, but an easy mess and worth the cleanup. I made this broth from the leftover carcass of a Wegmans Organic Rotisserie Chicken. (Hallelujah!)
Escarole, Farro, and Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- Chicken broth
- 1 cup farro
- 1 bunch escarole
- Salt
- Romano cheese for garnish
Directions
- If you’re going to make your own chicken broth, make that first. You’ll need 4 to 8 cups or so. No need to be exact. If you make it yourself, strain it and add chicken pieces back in. If you use store-bought, just pour it in a pan (no actual chicken required).
- In another pot, cook 1 cup of farro in 3 cups of water for about 15 minutes. When done, drain and add to the broth.
- Clean and cut up a whole bunch of escarole and add it in at the end. Bring the soup to a quick boil, and then it’s done!
- Well, salt to taste and add some Romano cheese, if you want, as a garnish.
Mmm, I can taste it now! I’ve been trying to make a good organic escarole soup for a very long time also. Oh thank you Maria! Will try when I find a head of organic escarole. Soon I hope!
As Gomer Pyle would say, ” Well Goll-ee”. I’m familiar only with lettuce, cabbage, spinach and southern greens; always thought escarole referred to snails, and just skipped right over the word. So, it pays to read; learned something today. Farro?? Yeah, had to look that up, too…Hey, I’m just getting used to couscous.
Thank you for the recipe and culinary education. I look forward to making some soup.
Is there a substitute for Farro? I am not familiar with this.
Hi Deb, you can use barley instead, but farro is quicker! It’s a form of wheat.