The Queen of All French Gratins

Endive Béchamel

When the weather in Los Angeles is dark, gray, and cold, it reminds me of winters in France. Well, without the sub-zero temperatures!

But it can feel just as bad for us hot-house-flowers here on the West Coast! That’s when I turn to one of my favorite French comfort dishes, Endive Béchamel.

Salty French ham wrapped around tender endive in a pool of bechamel sauce and topped with gruyere cheese. YUM!

The Queen of all Gratins

France is known for their variety of “gratins” just about anything can be covered with cheese, baked, and called a gratin. But for me, my personal favorite is Endives au Jambon Gratinées or as my husband will call it “Endive Béchamel” for short.

Seriously, it’s the most delicious, decadent thing on a cold winter’s night, and best of all unlike the potato-based Gratin Dauphinois, this recipe you can serve as a main dish. It has all your food groups represented. Or if you really want to go for broke there’s the King of Gratins, the notorious Tartiflette.

But Wait Isn’t Endive…like for salad?

I know it sounds totally weird. Roasting bitter endive? How can that be, um, good? Oh, but it is! A funny thing happens to it in the 2-step cooking process. Once roasted it mellows in flavor. Then when baked with the sauce and cheese it gets all silky! Almost like a roasted white asparagus.

You can buy the two-toned endive varieties at Trader Joe’s!

Here’s What Are You In For:

• Prep the endive, by coring out the end.

• Roast the endive to mellow its flavor.

• Wrap the ham around the roasted endive. Nestle the bundles in your gratin pan.

• Top with the Béchamel sauce and gruyere cheese and bake!

The Process:

Prep the Endive, Roast it, wrap with ham, make the bechamel sauce, top with cheese and bake!

Serve With:

• A tossed green salad with a Classic French Vinaigrette

• A warm Baguette for soaking up the sauce

• And for dessert an easy Apple Galette

The Menu

A French-themed dinner menu