Erbazzone, also known as scarpazonne, a rustic pie or torta of foraged greens from Emilia Romagna in Northern Italy, is one of the first things I'll be making again this year.
This is a traditional, Italian recipe with lots of modern and unique localized variations that may or may not share the same name.
Modern versions call for spinach or chard, but if you look closely at the descriptions, you can see few hints about its origin as a vehicle for edible wild plants.
History
Erbazzone is often described as a peasant dish, or something made with large mixtures of greens and herbs. If I've learned anything, it's that dishes calling for mixtures of leafy green and herbs almost always have their roots in people gathering whatever they can from the landscape.
If you look at a modern recipes for erbazzone, you'll see mentions of chard, spinach, or beet greens. In the Mediterranean, one of the most commonly wild food plants I see listed is Beta vulgaris maritima, or wild beet / sea beet greens.
As with so many wild foods, people seem to shift away from harvesting the traditional wild plants used in a dish for convenience.
How to Make it
Some erbazzone have a thin crust similar to flat bread, some modern recipes call for puff pastry, and then there's rustic ones using very lean doughs similar to pasta dough.
I tried a number of versions, and, while a lean dough is probably more frugal and traditional, subbing your favorite pie crust makes the finished pie durable, portable.
Wild Herbs
This is a great place to use a big batch of Spring greens at their peak, and a perfect way to dress up bitter greens. If you love dandelions, sow thistle, garlic mustard and other strong-tasting greens but your family doesn't, this will prove they can be addictive.
Other Ingredients
Spring onions, herbs, meat and cheese can all be added. Some recipes call for ricotta cheese, but that seems like filler to me. Here I use wild herbs like ramp greens for their oniony kick, along with a handful of parmesan and slab bacon I make, but you can adjust the recipe to your taste. Beef bacon is another good alternative smoked meat.
Erbazzone: Italian Foraged Greens Pie
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Pastry crust
- 8 ounces (225 g) unsalted butter, chilled
- 2 cups (240 g) flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Cold water as needed to bring the dough together
Filling
- 2 ounces (55 g) slab or thick-cut bacon diced in ¼- inch (6 mm) dice
- 3 ounces (85 g) green onions or ramp leaves sliced in ½- inch (1.25 cm) slices
- 1 ½ lbs (680 g) mixed wild greens washed and dried
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or equivalent
- ½ cup (50 g) grated Pecorino Romano cheese or parmigiano reggiano cheese
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 beaten egg, for brushing the top
Instructions
Pastry Crust
- Cut the butter into small pieces, then mix with the flour and salt using a pastry blender, until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Gradually add water until the dough can be gathered into a ball.
- Divide the dough into 2 two equal pieces, flatten into disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate to firm (at least 20 minutes or overnight). The dough can be made days ahead of time and kept refrigerated.
Filling
- Sweat the bacon on medium heat until the fat renders, about 5 minutes. Add the onions to the pan and, cook for a minute. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the greens, add to the pan, cover to help steam them, and cook, stirring occasionally, adding a tablespoon or two of water if needed.
- Cook the greens until they’re tender and taste good to you (about 10 minutes for me), then transfer to a mixing bowl and cool for a few minutes. Press on the greens with a towel to remove any remaining liquid, then mix in the cheese, egg yolks, and spices. Taste the seasoning for salt and adjust until it tastes good to you.
Rolling out the dough and cooking
- Roll out the bottom pastry crust and use it to line a baking dish or pie pan, —or, roll out the dough into a square about 10 to 11 inches” (26 – 28 cm) on a side. If you make a square, line the baking pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Pack the greens mixture into the crust, pressing down to remove air, then roll out the top crust, lay it over the top, crimp the edges, brush with beaten egg, cut a few slices in the top to let air escape, and bake for 15 minutes.
- Then turn down the heat to 350°F (180°C) and bake for about 30 minutes more, or until the top is golden brown.
- Cool a bit before slicing into servings. The Erbazzone holds heat, travels well, and is good at room temperature.
Notes
- Some recipes use ricotta cheese in the filling as well.
- Some of the recipe testers recommended making it into hand-pies for more portable portions.
- Instead of the bacon, you can cook the onions and greens with extra virgin olive oil.
- If you don't have wild onion greens, you can add a few chopped garlic cloves, and substitute the weight of the greens in spinach or chard.
Nutrition
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Laura G.
Oh also I didn’t use the bacon. Still delicious!
Alan Bergo
Thanks Laura.
Laura G.
Exactly what I was looking for to transform an abundance of CSA greens. So not wild or foraged, but a mix of: beet greens, radish greens, lacinato kale, something in the mustard family, chives. Forgiving recipe—I spaced out and used only half the butter in the pastry, but though difficult to work with, it came out fine. Used plenty of pecorino romano (feta could be nice, too); for the spices nutmeg, pinch of cayenne, s&p. I halved the recipe, using one crust and making a mezzaluna/turnover shape. Delicious and will make three perfect lunches!
Samarth
Feels good to see that people are still trying to preserve the authentic cuisine.
Alan Bergo
Thanks Samarth, I agree.
Bonny
Made this today to celebrate spring!
Worked perfectly. Foraged for dandelion,
Chickweed, hairy bittercress, had spinach, chives, and kale from the garden.
tom
Could you tell me more about the italian book (Piante Spontanee) ? Looks like an interesting one !
Alan Bergo
Yes it’s a good book, but, it’s not available in English. I translate from it occasionally.
tom
Could you give me more info (author, editions etc) ? There are an afwul lot of books with the same title ! Language is not a problem, i speak italian ! Complimenti per l'erbazzone !
Alan Bergo
You bet. Piante Spontanee D’uso Alimentare: Preparare, Cucinare. Cover of the book is blue. Author names looks like Arelle du Nurb.
Amanda Bosca
Under your first book illustration it seems you are translating "sfoglia di pasta" as a sheet of pasta. This is a very old book and today it would be called "pasta sfoglia" which is puff pastry. I believe that was what was meant. When I was married and living in Piemonte, I watched my Italian husband's grandmother make torta pasqualina every Easter. This erbazzone reminded me of it. I think it would be great to combine the two, i.e. use the cultivated bietole(beet tops) or chard, spinach and possibly wild greens, ricotta which makes it softer and less dense and then add the raw eggs here and there in indented areas created for them. She made a mille feuilles with puff pastry making a many layered base and top. Maybe not so hygienic but she would bend over and blow between the layers! I don't think there is anything as marvelous as a mille feuilles for this. Would that be filo dough, which one can buy?
Alan Bergo
Ah yes you’re right Re: pasta sfoglia. My Italian teacher would bop me on the head with a ruler if she saw that. I adjusted it.
As for the mille feuille, yes phyllo is the best bet for the texture you’re looking for. It gets confusing as puff pastry is also called mille feuille.
Dale
I plan on making this as a hand pie and see that the spice mix is listed twice in the filling but not referred to twice in the instructions. Not sure if one goes in the pastry as well or it is an accidental duplication.
Sounds lie a great recipe.
Alan Bergo
Yeah I caught that a couple minutes ago, some weird formatting issue. Thanks.
Wendi Nelson
This is definitely going to be made when I see more greens out back! Sounds amazing. It also reminds me of something I wanted to ask you. In Rome around Easter you can find a salad using a green called puntarelle. The stalks are shredded and mixed in a very garlicky anchovy vinaigrette. It is so amazing! I was told it was a spring delicacy. Ever heard of it? And if so, what greens could I use here to recreate it?
Alan Bergo
Hi Wendi. Oh yeah, puntarelle has been on my list of things to eat for ages. Years ago there was a farmer who would grow all kinds of fun stuff, and he tried puntarelle one year. Unfortunately, it seems that deer really like it too, so we never got any. Puntarelle is a chicory, which is pretty easy to find a substitute for, flavor-wise, but, as you might know, the texture of the stems is part of what makes it special, and, if I'm right, there should be a special cutting tool that resembles a French Fry cutter that the stalks are pushed through to make the traditional cut/shape. Another things that's done to the stalks that's special is that they're soaked in water before seasoning, which makes them curl up. I think the best analogy I could think of here would be a mix of dandelion crowns and curly dock stems, cleaned very well, cut into a fine julienne, then soaked in ice water for a bit until they curl. I think they'd be very good like that.
Wendi Nelson
Thanks for the advice! I’ll try it AND the pie!
I actually have a puntarelle cutter I bought in Italy, in hopes of finding the green here. Never been used! Ha, if you ever find some, you can try out my cutter
Amanda Bosca
The top Italian grocery stores in New York City sell it in the spring. This may sound strange but I think the closest you can get to the texture and slight bitterness would be endives. It isn't wild; they are the shoots of chicory.
Alan Bergo
This is great. Thank you.
Shannan
This looks amazing! What a perfect way to use a good healthy portion of wild greens. I’m already obsessed and I haven't even tried this recipe yet! I
Alan Bergo
Yeah I've served it at a few events too, the portability is great. Pack it in a lunch, bring on a picnic, etc.