Spicy Collards in Tomato Onion Sauce

There is no such thing as too many recipes for collard greens. Joyce at Octoberfarm posted one last week that is to die for. This one is different from "normal" collards in that it has a tomato and onion sauce. Other greens are also delicious served in this sauce - especially escarole. Most greens will need far less cooking time than collards.

I think I mentioned earlier I'm using up stuff from the freezer and pantry from last summers garden. In this case frozen collards and canned tomatoes, plus pork stock frozen from a few weeks ago. These are very tasty.

Spicy Collards in Tomato-Onion Sauce
serves about 6
print recipe
adapted from The Gift of Southern Cooking

About 2 pounds collard greens
6 cups Smoked Pork Stock
1/3 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
about 38 ounces canned whole tomatoes, home canned or a good store bought, Drained

Wash and drain the collards. Remove stems and discard. Cut the collard leaves crosswise into 1-inch strips. Bring the pork stock or water to a rolling boil in a large Dutch oven, drop in the collard greens, and cook uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, until tender. Frozen collards will only take about 20 minutes. Drain the greens, and reserve the cooking liquid.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Add the onion and cook. stirring often, over moderate heat for 10 minutes, until the pieces are translucent and tender. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Stir well to distribute seasonings. and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the drained tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of the liquid reserved from cooking the greens. Simmer gently for 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Add the drained collard greens and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Taste again for seasoning. Serve hot.