My Best Endive Recipe

Endive is a true winter vegetable. It has been available in Nice supermarkets for some time already. Endive is a cousin of chicory, and it can be a bit bitter. So, how to prepare the poor, pale endive which has many nutritional virtues?

I used to think that the traditional Belgian recipe by covering the sautéed endives with ham and cheese sauce and then browning in hot oven was the only way to prepare them, until I started braising them. Most braising recipes use butter for braising, but I have replaced it with heart healthy rapeseed oil.
I have also used other more Mediterranean ingredients such as lavender honey and freshly pressed orange juice in this recipe. Braised endives are great with pork chops, grilled salmon or magret de canard, duck breast (as shown in the picture). And they even look nice when caramelized properly.

2 servings
2 endives
Juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp lavender honey (or other runny honey)

Choose crisp and pale endives that are not brownish in the stems. Slice off about 1 cm from the stem end, because this part is often quite bitter.
Simmer the whole endives for about 15 minutes in orange juice in a heavy casserole under lock. Turn once halfway. Dry them with kitchen papers.
Heat the rapeseed oil on a medium- high heat in a heavy pan. Add the honey in the pan. Halve the endives lengthwise and add them the flat side down in the pan. Fry them until they have a nice caramel colour. This will take about 10 minutes.