Escarole

Endive, or Chicory—This, for salad, takes the same place in winter that lettuce occupies in summer and when well grown is equally valuable. There are two very distinct varieties; [...] The other sort is the "Escarole" of the French, and is sweet in flavor, with a wider and flatter leaf, which comes earlier in the season but does not usually form so close a head, although it is preferable in flavor. [...] Sow twice, early in July and the first week in August. The broad leaf, (which is the Escarole,) for the first crop, and some White Curled for the second crop.

Paul's greatest pleasure was the cultivation of various salads. He owned four large beds in which he grew romaines, lettuces, escaroles, and almost all the known species of these edible leaves.

Escarole is a form of endive with the Latin name Cichorium endivia var. latifolia. There are several forms of a variety called var. crispum with wide heads and crisped leaves. One of these called "fringed" has a head so deep it is almost self-blanching. These escaroles are delicious as salads and also when chopped and cooked.

Like chicory and Belgian endive, escarole’s bitterness is its attraction. Look for broad heads of escarole with dark green leaves.

This recipe called scarola imbottita is unique in that the individual leaves of the vegetable are not used for stuffing, as you might expect, but the whole head of escarole is flattened and stuffed, then closed up, tied up, and cooked whole. [...] Remember that the kind of escarole used here is also called curly endive.

Escarole walnut salad [...] If you've never worked with escarole, give this versatile green a go. When I was growing up, I was used to eating it chopped up in a soup, quickly wilted with lemon juice, or tossed into a salad. Though you can find escarole in most grocery stores, many people don't take advantage of it, perhaps because of its slight bitterness (which dissipates when cooked).