Belgian recipe
How to make Endive with ham and cheese sauce
chicons au gratin or gegratineerd witloof
All of Belgium
Heads of Belgian endive, each wrapped in a slice of ham, baked under a cheese sauce until golden. The slightly bitter endive and the rich sauce make a classic winter dish.
Ingredients
- 8 heads of Belgian endive
- 8 slices of cooked ham
- 40 g butter and 40 g plain flour
- 500 ml milk
- 150 g grated Gruyère or other hard cheese
- A pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper
Method
- Trim the base of the endives. Simmer them in salted water for about 15 minutes, or steam them, until tender. Drain very well and squeeze gently, as they hold a lot of water.
- Heat the oven to 200°C. Melt the butter, stir in the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk a little at a time and simmer until thick and smooth.
- Take the sauce off the heat and stir in two thirds of the cheese, the nutmeg, salt and pepper.
- Wrap each endive in a slice of ham and lay them in a buttered baking dish. Pour over the sauce and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
- Bake for about 25 minutes until bubbling and golden. Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
Belgian endive is grown in the dark from a stored chicory root, which keeps its leaves pale and closed. The method was developed in Belgium in the 1850s, and one story credits a gardener at the Brussels Botanical Garden.
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