Mentoponto Full-hearted Escarole

60 days. Well-known to Italians as Scarola, Escarole is a broad open-leafed Chicory long popular in ethnic comfort food. This special Italian variety has a delicious, piquant flavor and a wonderfully crisp texture. It produces a large semi-erect head with elongated, wide, wavy green leaves and a creamy-golden heart. More heat tolerant than Lettuce yet very cold hardy, Mentoponto can be grown year round in many climates. Harvest young in the summer for the best flavor but let it mature fully in the fall and winter. One of our favorite comfort-food soups to make is Chicken Soup with Escarole and Beans. Dice a large yellow Onion, two Celery stalks and two Carrots in two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add two minced Garlic cloves: sauté while stirring. Add six cups of warm chicken broth. Bring almost to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. With your kitchen scissors, cut fine ribbons of Escarole into the soup pot (eyeball it: two cups or more, it virtually disintegrates into the soup). Add one cup of prepared white cannellini Beans, one cup of prepared red kidney Beans and two cups of diced cooked chicken. Bring it almost to a boil again, then reduce heat back to simmer. Add a half cup of orzo and simmer for about 15 minutes until the orzo plumps up and is almost tender. Serve piping hot with grated parmesan cheese and crusty bread. (OP.)

One packet of about 500 seeds
In stock
Item
#2985
$4.75
  • Buy 10 for $4.30 each and save 9%
  • Buy 50 for $3.55 each and save 25%
  • Information
  • This ancient family includes popular continental greens, most preferring cool weather and evenly moist soil. You may sow in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked, when the soil is about 45°F. However, late summer sowing for fall and winter harvest may be more successful. Wild at heart, most Chicories prefer to be direct-sown in moderately fertile soil; too much added fertilizer, especially nitrogen, can cause them to bolt. With all varieties, keep soil lightly moist until seedlings emerge. Chicories have varying degrees of bitter flavor and their dense texture adds desirable dimension to salads. Deer resistant.

    Average seed life: 2 years.

    To broaden the range of texture and flavor in your garden and salads, don't forget to plant some of these specialty Salad Greens: Arugula, Asian Greens, Chervil, Claytonia, Cress, Dandelion Greens, Endive, Escarole, Frisee, Giant Red Mustard, Komatsuna, Lettuce, Mâche, Mibuna, Minutina, Mizuna, Orach, Radicchio, Salad Blends, Sorrel, Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Tatsoi.

  • Gardening Tips
This ancient family includes popular continental greens, most preferring cool weather and evenly moist soil. You may sow in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked, when the soil is about 45°F. However, late summer sowing for fall and winter harvest may be more successful. Wild at heart, most Chicories prefer to be direct-sown in moderately fertile soil; too much added fertilizer, especially nitrogen, can cause them to bolt. With all varieties, keep soil lightly moist until seedlings emerge. Chicories have varying degrees of bitter flavor and their dense texture adds desirable dimension to salads. Deer resistant.

Average seed life: 2 years.

To broaden the range of texture and flavor in your garden and salads, don't forget to plant some of these specialty Salad Greens: Arugula, Asian Greens, Chervil, Claytonia, Cress, Dandelion Greens, Endive, Escarole, Frisee, Giant Red Mustard, Komatsuna, Lettuce, Mâche, Mibuna, Minutina, Mizuna, Orach, Radicchio, Salad Blends, Sorrel, Spinach, Swiss Chard, and Tatsoi.

Back to Top