Caramelised Endive

From Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2008.

When I looked at this recipe and its accompanying illustrations I realised it must have been for what we call witlof, or Belgium endive.

The witlofs were cut in half lengthwise and fried until caramelised in a pan containing butter and a little caster sugar. This took about 4 minutes.

Now a mixture was made of breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, a very small pinch of thyme leaves, salt and black pepper and sufficient cream to made a thin paste. This was layered over the caramelised side of the witlofs. The recipe called for slices of ham to be laid over this; I used a vegetarian substitute (it might have been better without). The witlofs now went into a 200ºC oven for a quarter of an hour.

The vegetarian ham was not good. It had dried and gone a bit hard so was unpleasant to chew. The witlof and their paste covering worked quite well. Previous to this I had only had witlof in salads so it was worthwhile trying this vegetable cooked. Quite good.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔