Belgian Endive au Natural is truly a simple recipe. It is not the easiest vegetable to find here in the South, but this slightly bitter, hearty vegetable is worth trying.
Belgian Endive is called witloof in Belgium (the Flemish, northern part of Belgium); wit means white and loof means leaves. In Holland (where I am from), we call it witlof (no need to translate this). As you can see, the Flemish and Dutch language are very similar but not the same.
The picture below shows why it is called witloof or witlof.
A beautiful dense and white, or cream if you prefer, vegetable. No green or loose leaves. How to clean Belgian Endive? Check out this post.
How to Make Belgian Endive au Natural
- Wash the endive carefully, you want to keep the head intact. Transfer endive to a pan with water and salt and cook, covered, for about 20-25 minutes. The thinner the head the shorter the cooking time.
- Transfer cooked endives to a colander and drain well. Collect the cooking liquid if you want to make a sauce, but if not, like in this ‘au natural’ recipe, discard the liquid. Place the vegetables in a dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs and melted butter. I used home-made bread crumbs, more tasty than store-bought.
- Place dish under a broiler for a few minutes to toast the buttered bread crumbs and serve. You can use bread crumbs and grated cheese or just grated cheese if you prefer.
Belgian Endive au Natural
Belgian Endive au Natural is truly a simple recipe. It is not the easiest vegetable to find here in the South, but this slightly bitter, hearty vegetable is worth trying.
Pin Recipe
Facebook
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds Belgian Endive
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Clean the Belgian endive: Cut off the bottom of the head, but make sure not to cut too high up. The bottom is keeping the leaves together. Cutting too high, you will lose a lot of leaves.
- You see a lighter core; this is the most bitter part of the vegetable. Take that core out, by using a small knife and carve at the outer edge of the core, cutting out a cone of about 1-1.5 inches in length (all depending on the size of the endive).
- Wash the endive carefully, you want to keep the head intact.
- Transfer endive to a pan with water and salt and cook, covered, for about 20-25 minutes. The thinner the head the shorter the cooking time.
- Transfer cooked endives to a colander and drain well, discard the liquid.
- Place the vegetables in a dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs and melted butter or bread crumbs and grated cheese.
- Place dish under a broiler for a few minutes to roast the bread crumbs or melt the cheese.
Nutrition
Calories: 147kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 129mg | Fiber: 10g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @agourmetfoodblog on Instagram
No Comments