There are some vegetables that I just never buy or cook with. The unpopular vegetables, the ones you rarely see on regular restaurant menus or in your local supermarket. The kind of vegetable which you have to hunt down, which are only ever available in season and are usually organic. Vegetables with funny names and funny tastes that rarely make it onto our plates: Kohlrabi, Samphire, Black salsify, Jerusalem artichokes and Swedes. These vegetables may have lots of flavour, but have little or no reputation. The kind of vegetable that you excitedly pick up and think ‘Hmm what would I do with that’, then promptly put it back as you don’t have the time to contemplate a new recipe with an unusual looking vegetable. These are the forgotten vegetables.
Endives from the chicory plant are one such vegetable that I have often picked up and promptly dropped. I’ve eaten them before, but they have never really appealed. That said I’ve never cooked with them myself, so I thought it only fair to give them another chance. Ottolenghi’s book Plenty, is always a great source of recipes for unusual vegetables and he had three recipes for the humble endive. Being a sucker for anything au gratin, I picked this recipe which happened to feature my favourite Swiss cheese. This made for such a quick and tasty tea time snack and the slightly bitter endive complimented the crispy cheese topping so well. When cooked the endive has a similar texture to a cooked leek. It’s a dish I would definitely cook again and it would make a great starter with a few fresh green salad leaves on the side.
Here’s how:
– 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
– 10 g of butter
– 2 endives (chicory) cut in half lengthways
– 1 tablespoon of thyme leaves chopped
– 100g of Comte cut into 4 thick slices
– 10g of fresh breadcrumbs
– salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. In a large frying pan heat the oil and the butter until it starts to fizz. Slice the endives in half, lengthways. Place the endives in the pan cut side down. Leave to cook for 3-5 minutes until golden almost brown. Remove from the pan and place in large ovenproof dish. Arrange cut sized up. Place half the thyme on top of the endives, then a thick slice of Comte cheese and then sprinkle with the rest of the thyme. Place in the oven for about ten minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble. Take out of the oven and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top, season with some pepper. Increase the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and place back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are brown and golden. Serve straight away with a simple dressed green salad. Garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme.
