For those of you who may not be aware: "Witloof Chicory (also called Belgian Endive) denotes the
blanched, tight heads produced by forcing (or growing in the darkness) the big
mature chicory roots in forcing structures." (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/endive.html).
Some people don't like Belgian Endives (witloof) because of the slightly bitter taste. There are ways of preparing it that make it taste less bitter. I've always loved the taste, even as a small child. Both of my children do, too, luckily (of course that may still change ;-)).
One day, my 3-year-old daughter asked me to make a vegetable pie with Belgian Endives. One of my favourite ways to eat Witloof is with smoked salmon (instead of the traditional ham) and cheese sauce. So putting smoked salmon and cheese in the pie seemed the way to go. The children and I love this pie (husband is not a big fan of Belgian endives), so we hope you'll like it, too!
Belgian Endives Pie with smoked salmon
- 1 puff pastry pie base (supermarket)
- small bunch of chives, finely chopped
- 5 stumps Belgian endive (witloof), chopped
- 200 g smoked salmon, in small strips
- 60 g grated Parmesan cheese
- 60 g grated (old) Gouda cheese
- 150 g cottage cheese
- 1,5 dl condensed milk, unsweetened
- 1 tbsp flour
- 2 eggs
- a pinch of cayenne pepper and/or nutmeg
- salt and pepper
- Fry the chopped endive in a little butter in a pan until they are rather dry. Add some cayenne pepper and/or nutmeg.
- Preheat the oven to 200° C of 180°C for a fan-assisted oven. Beat the eggs and mix them with the cottage cheese, flour and condensed milk.
- Add the chives, parmesan, Belgian Endives and smoked salmon.
- Put the pie base in a (silicone) baking tin, pour in the filling, sprinkle with the grated Gouda cheese and put in the oven for 15 to 20 mins.
Enjoy!
Usually when I have cauliflower left over I make soup with it, but this time I decided to try something different. So I made this with some cauliflower that had already been cooked the day before, but of course you could use a fresh one and cook it or steam it first.
It doesn't look like a cauliflower soufflé, even though cauliflower is the main ingredient:
And it's not a 'real' soufflé (since it's not necessary to separate yolks from egg whites in this case), but it's very similar (and easier to prepare). I served this with cherry tomatoes, jacket potatoes and hamburgers, but there are lots of other options.
'Fake' cauliflower soufflé
- 400 g cauliflower (cooked or steamed)
- 3 tbsp milk (or soy milk, or cream if you prefer)
- 4 tbsp chopped chives
- 2 eggs
- pepper
- (salt)
- oil (I used rapeseed oil)
First put the cauliflower in the blender and blend it, then add all of the other ingredients except for the oil and blend it again. If you don't want the 'puree' to turn green you could leave out the chives, too, and just stir them in with a spoon.
Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160° for a fan-assisted oven. Grease 4 soufflé cups with a little (rapeseed) oil. Put the cauliflower 'puree' into the cups with a spoon. Put them in the oven for approx. 20 mins.
My children (17 months and 3 years old) both loved this, and of course you could prepare this with other vegetables (broccoli, spinach, carrots, ...), too...
(Dutch recipe available on demand)
