The “au naturel” preparation is the point: no sauce, no heavy seasoning, nothing that gets in the way of the vegetable itself. The endive cooks in water in a pan until tender and drained, then the breadcrumbs go on top with melted butter and the dish finishes under the broiler or in the oven until the surface is properly golden and the kitchen smells like something simple and good.
This is a side dish for two that asks for almost no prep and makes an interesting companion to roasted meat or grilled fish. It is also a good way to introduce someone to endive who has only ever encountered it raw in a salad, where its bitterness can be polarizing. Cooked, it softens entirely, in texture and in character.
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.
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Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Belgian endive
- Butter
- Bread crumbs
A beautiful dense and white, or cream if you prefer, vegetable. No green or loose leaves.
How to Make Belgian Endive au Natural
- Clean the endive carefully, you want to keep the head intact. Check out this post, if you want to learn How to clean Belgian Endive. 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
Pin Recipe FacebookIngredients
- 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.