This is,I promise,our last chicory recipe. It nearly escaped my attention but as I scoured through your many encouraging emails I found this one from Penny W who sent a recipe for chicory cooked in ham and cheese. Penny told me that she learnt this one as an au pair in St Germain-en-Laye in the sixties. Over 40 years on she has kindly passed this on to me and my children. Thank you. Freddie, who is becoming disarmingly keen on chicory, appreciates the addition of ham and cheese and gave it an 8 out of 10.
Chicory in Ham and Cheese
Cook the chicories in boiling water(I added vegetable stock)for about four minutes and then drain. While they are cooking make a cheese sauce.
Wrap each piece of cooked chicory in a slice of ham. We chose some thick cut ham which was full of flavour. Line them up in a shallow baking dish and cover in the cheese sauce. I made just a little cheese sauce so that it wasn't too rich and added a little vegetable stock to it. Grate more cheese on top and put in an oven at about 180. Penny suggests you can add some bread crumbs on top for added crunch.
Incidentally, because we have been displaying a Julia Child-like love of cheese and butter, we also tried this recipe without the cheese sauce - just the ham and grated cheese on top and that was equally delicious.
So farewell again Mr Witloof/Belgian Endive or just plain Chicory. Till next time.
Well, ham and cheese, that's practically cheating. But it does look good. Who could resist. You could almost spoon it between a couple of piece of bread and call it a sandwich...
ReplyDeleteIts more than practically cheating - it is a bit of a cheat but why not? And when it comes to children, if that is how they chose to learn to like vegetables I am all for it.
ReplyDeleteIt was delicious and a meal in its own right. We served it with crusty french bread.
Can you tell me what kind of chicory this is? I mean is it chicorum intybus? The photo looks more leafy so I'm assuming it is not the spindly common chicory.
ReplyDeleteThanks.