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Sicilian Cooking

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Baccala’ with Endive

( Baccalà con Indivia )

The Baccalà with endive is a specialty cooked in southern Italy. In Apulia, the “baccalà con indivia” is served for the traditional Christmas dinner. Baccalà is salted and dried codfish; endive is a bitter curly green vegetable of the chicory family. Baccalà con Indivia is the fish dressed with boneless salted anchovies, capers, black olives, olive oil, breadcrumbed and wrapped in endive leaves. There are many variations in the preparation and in fact in the Neapolitan region is prepared like a crustless pie, using blanched endive or escarole leaves as the base and filled with the stuffing; in other variation a single leave of endive is wrapped around the stuffing, the baccalà is replaced by rice and usually served as appetizer.
Although as a young man, I disliked this dish, when I tasted it in my “golden age”, I fund that the contrasting tastes of the bitter endive and the salty baccalà blend into a refreshing and pleasant sensation to the palate and create a delicious, magnificent and different dish. Prepared in the traditional way, it results in a moist and flavorful entrée that you and your table companions will enjoy. The only way to prepare this dish is to blanch the baccalà and coarsely chop it; mix it in with the various ingredients then fold the baccalà mixture into the endive leaves and bake covered with olive oil and water. If curly endive is not available, substitute it with chicory or escarole.

  • Serving Size6
  • SeafoodBaccala' with Endive

    Ingredients

    • 2 lb. of boneless baccala’, pre-soaked for 24 hours
    • 6 small and tender heads of endive
    • 1 cup of fresh diced bread, crust removed (soft part only)
    • 2 salted anchovies, filleted and chopped
    • 1 tablespoon of capers in brine
    • 2 cloves of minced garlic
    • ½ cup chopped pitted black olives
    • Salt and peppers
    • 12 tablespoons olive oil

    Instructions

    1

    THE BACCALA’
    Fill a large pot 2/3 of the way with water and bring to a boil. Briefly plunge the baccala’ into the boiling water, drain it thoroughly and allow it to cool.

    2

    THE FILLING
    Preheat oven to 400F. Place bread on a ungreased baking sheet and bake at 400F for 7 to 10 minutes, to lightly dry it. Remove from oven and let cool. In a bowl, crumble the bread with your hands and set on the side. Chop coarsely the salted cod and combine in a large bowl with salted anchovies, capers, black olives, the bread and 4 tablespoons of olive oil; mix it well.

    3

    THE ENDIVE
    Trim ends, but leave base attached and cut in half the long way; remove any discolored or damaged leaves. Dunk the endive in a basin filled with cold water and swish it around; repeat and rinse the endive 2 or 3 times; this is a very important step, so make sure and rinse until all the sand is washed away. Place on a cutting board to drain. Set on the side.

    4

    THE ASSEMBLY
    Transfer the filling in a large dish and divide in 6 parts. Gently spread leaves of half endive and tuck in, one portion of the stuffing. Cover with the other half, tie together with butcher twine and place into a deep baking pan. Repeat until you finish. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top and add water to cover half way. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and gently turn the stuffed endives with a tongue add some more water to cover half way and bake uncovered for an additional 20 minutes or until the endive is tender.

    THE SERVING

    5

    Cut and remove the string, place into a serving dish or in individual plates, drizzle with some of the cooking liquid and serve with a crusty bread and a dry white wine.