Belgian Endives With Ham  & Cheese
By: Sophie32
Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 - 3:51pm

Ingredients




6 large pieces of Belgian endives
6 slices of defatted cooked ham
65 gr grated  Gruyère cheese
For the mash:

flourly potatoes for 2 persons, with seconds, peeled & cut up into 2 & put into cold water

Liquid margarine or butter

a splash of milk

black pepper

Maldon sea salt

fresh nutmeg, grated

For the cheese sauce:

45 gr flour
45 inches gr butter or baking margarine / I use baking margarine, 
450 ml of semi - skimmed milk
100 gr of grated Gruyère cheese
Maldon sea salt

Black pepper

Fresh nutmeg, grated

Preparation

1 Take a large cooking pot & fill with hot water. Put the lid on & bring to the boil on high heat. Wash the endives. Drain. 2 When the water is boiling, add the endives. Cook until cooked trough. In my case, that was 25 minutes. Turn the heat off. Drain the endives thoroughly. Shake off the excess of water. 3 Take a chopping board & put 3 slices of ham on it. Take a piece of cooked endive & roll it up. The endive is now enfolded in the ham. Do the same with all the remaining slices. 4 Take a large oven dish & place the 6 pieces nicely together, side per side. 5 Preheat the oven to 180°C. 6 Take a medium sized cooking pot & heat up on medium high. When hot, add the butter or baking margarine & let it melt. When melted, add the same amount of flour. Whisk thoroughly & vigorously. Now, let the mix of flour & butter get a bit browned for a few minutes, to take away that flourly flavor. 7 Add gradually the milk to the mix & whisk, whisk, whisk! Adjust the heat if necessary. 8 Add the 100 gr of grated cheese to the thicker sauce. Whisk. Turn the heat off. Season to taste with the sea salt, black pepper & the grated nutmeg. It has to taste real good! 9 Now, pour the Béchamel cheese sauce over the enfolded endives. Pour everything in & smooth the surface. The ham slices have to be covered by the sauce. 10 Scatter the rest of the grated cheese, the 65 gr on top, evenly divided. 11 Place into the preheated oven on 180 °C for 20 minutes. Then for an extra 5 minutes, place the dish under the grill. 12 While the dish is in the oven, take the large cooking pot you have used before & fill with hot water. Bring to the boil. When boiling, add the cut up potatoes. Boil until tender. In my case that was 20 minutes. Drain. Turn the heat off. Mash. Season to taste. I used Maldon sea salt & grinded black pepper, a splash of milk, a bit of liquid margarine & a bit of freshly grated nutmeg. Keep warm. 13 Put a piece of baked endives on a plate & serve with the mash. Spoon the sauce on top! 14 Enjoy!

About


This is a typical Belgian dish! The endives are pre - cooked & enfolded in ham slices.Then they are placed into an oven dish & submerged in a lovely cheese sauce. Grated cheese is put on top. In the last stage, the dish will be put under the grill.
Usually, it is served with mash.