Endives au Jambon - Belgian Endive au Gratin

Endives au Jambon is a baked au gratin dinner meal from the North of France. Belgian Endives are rolled into ham slices and coated with a cheese béchamel sauce.

This traditional dish is also known under a different name as Chicon au Jambon in some regions or as Endives Jambon Bechamel.

Jump to:

• 🍲 What are Endives au Jambon?
• 📕 What are Belgian Endives?
• 🥬 Ingredients
• 🔪 How to make it?
• 💡 Tips
• 🍴 Serving Ideas
• 🍱 Storing
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🍲 What are Endives au Jambon?

The term Endives au Jambon is French, and it means Endives in ham.

Endives are a vegetable, which are also known as chicory in some places in the world.

“Jambon” is french for ham. The French word “Au” means in this context “in”.

Endives au Jambon are the same as Belgian endives in ham au gratin (aka topped and baked with cheese).

It's a traditional northern French and Belgian dish. My family is from Beauvais l'Oise department.

We make it when Belgian endives are in season, which is typically from February to May in Europe.

You won't find this dish in French restaurants when in France. It's rather a typical homemade family comfort food meal. Just like meat stuffed tomatoes or blanquette de veau.

Freshly booked Belgian endives are rolled into ham, placed next to each other in a baking dish and topped with a cheesy béchamel white sauce. In the end, they are baked to perfection.

📕 What are Belgian Endives?

The Belgian Endive is a cream-colored to yellow lightly green layered leaf vegetable, and it looks like a large elongated egg.

The endive vegetable can get to the size of a hand and has layers of crunchy leaves.

In Great Britain, Ireland and northern France, the Belgian Endive might be known as chicory vegetable because it's part of the chicory family.

Belgian Endives are kept away from sunlight during the growth process, just like white asparagus. This is how they turn out white, beige, light green-yellow.

That way, the endives develop distinctive tender flavors and the endives also taste slightly bitter.

The whiter the endive the less bitter. The greener, the more bitter they get. If you love the taste of bitterness or if you were told by your doctor to eat more bitter food, then this is your solution.

Endives have been commercially grown without sunlight since about 1850 in Belgium, northern France, and Holland.

On the British Islands, the Belgian Endives are common as well, and it is getting rather popular and common in North America.

That is why the Belgian endives are frequently consumed in a salad but are spectacular cooked too.

🥬 Ingredients

Here is what you need to get to make this endive ham gratin dish from scratch at home. The full recipe with measurements details and quantities is located further below.

• Endives – fresh, they are mainly in season from January to April.
• Ham – per endive half you will need a slice of ham (i.e 6 ham slices for 3 whole endives). Use pork ham only for the true Belgian endive in ham dish.
• Cheese – we like to use grated Swiss Emmental cheese, but you can use mozzarella cheese too if this is what you get.
• Butter – unsalted preferred.
• All-purpose flour – for the roux.
• Milk – to build the béchamel sauce.
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Nutmeg – to season sauce, optional.

🔪 How to make it?

The recipe to make Jambon au Gratin is super straightforward, making it a perfect last minute wholesome dinner meal.

In today's recipe, we will first boil the vegetables and then short roast them in the oven to prepare this delicious endive casserole meal.

You can substitute the endives with asparagus as this dish is related to the asparagus au gratin casserole dish and the Savory Crêpes filled Ficelle Picarde

See the full recipe with US and metric measurement and instruction details in the recipe card further below.

Step 1

Rinse your Endives, cut off the stem end and cut your endive into half.

Cook the Endives halves tender in saltwater over a low-medium heat setting and strain once done.

Step 2

Prepare the white béchamel sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan and whisking in the flour.

Continue to pour in the milk while whisking and cooking so that the sauce gets formed.

The sauce texture should be smooth without lumps. Season and keep aside.

Step 3

Roll your cooked endives in the ham and place into the casserole dish.

Pour the white sauce over the endives in ham, add some grated cheese and bake until the top is golden brown crunchy.

💡 Tips

• You can choose to steam your endives too, instead of boiling them. This retains nutrients better.
• Simultaneously, while the endives are cooking, prepare the sauce to save time spent in the kitchen.
• To make the homemade béchamel roux, you can also use margarine or olive oil instead of butter. I prefer butter because it tastes better.
• To make this delicious endive gratin recipe extra cheesy, add cheese to the béchamel sauce during the cooking process. This sauce is then called a Mornay Sauce.

🍴 Serving Ideas

I love this informal supper dish with freshly baked baguette bread because it soaks up the sauce better.

In north France, we tend to serve jambon au endive with a green salad, or carrot salad or another side dish salad. These salads are always simple and prepared with a vinaigrette dressing.

🍱 Storing

If you have leftovers, place the cooked endives au jambon with sauce in a rectangular glass dish, close and lock with a lid.

Store in your fridge for up to 4–5 days.

To warm up in the oven, place the glass container into your oven (without the lid) at 280 Fahrenheit (ca. 140 degree Celsius) for about 10–15 minutes to reheat.

To warm up in the Microwave, place the same glass container with your food into the microwave and follow your usual microwave instructions.

Dear Reader, have you tried the Belgian Endive Recipe?

📖 Recipe