Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
Serves 4
- 8 Belgian endives (white chicory), halved lengthwise
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp honey (or light brown sugar)
- 4 large slices smoked salmon (cut in half)
For the mushroom béchamel sauce
- 200 g (7 oz) mushrooms, sliced
- 40 g (3 Tbsp) butter
- 40 g (⅓ cup) all-purpose flour (plain flour), sifted
- 1 liter (4 cups) milk
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- Pepper
Wash the endives, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the slightly hard core (it turns bitter when cooked). Arrange them in a skillet with a thin layer of olive oil and braise them until golden. Add enough water to cover them halfway, along with a tablespoon of honey (this also helps take away the endives’ bitterness). Cook for about 15 more minutes; your endives should be quite tender.
Meanwhile, make the béchamel. In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour and stir well to form a roux: the flour should blend into the butter to form a fairly soft golden paste. Add the milk little by little, stirring constantly, so the béchamel thickens. Add the sliced mushrooms and keep cooking until they soften a little and flavor the béchamel. For this recipe, you want a fairly loose béchamel so that the whole thing isn’t too compact once you add the mushrooms and doesn’t dry out in the oven. As soon as you reach the right consistency, turn off the heat.
When the endives are tender, turn off the heat, take them out, drain them gently and wrap each half in half a slice of smoked salmon cut lengthwise.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) on the broil (grill) setting. Arrange the salmon-wrapped endives in a baking dish and cover with béchamel. Bake on a rack in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes. I deliberately make plenty of béchamel so I can serve some in a gravy boat and have enough for the side dish.
Serve with rice, melted leeks, quinoa or pasta.
Tips and variations
- You can leave out the mushrooms.
- If you’re serving this endive gratin as a starter, you can halve the amount of béchamel and count one endive per person instead of two, and serve with a bowl of green salad.