Discover a cozy French classic: Belgian endives wrapped in ham, baked in creamy cheese sauce. A perfect gratin for hearty weeknight comfort food.
Called “endive au jambon” in French, this dish is more a staple of Northern France (and Belgium), where endives (also called chicon in Northern France) are very common.
How to make endive au jambon? I suggest a easy recipe with a cream and cheese sauce instead of the traditional béchamel but give you both options.
Pre-cook Belgian endives (Braise the endives in a pan with butter for extra flavor. Finish cooking them in the oven with a little broth. or easier boil them). Then wrap endives in ham, each endive wrapped in a slice of ham. Finally cover with béchamel for the classic version or a mix of heavy cream and grated cheese, my easier proposition without bechamel, followed by a generous handful of grated cheese. Bake au gratin.
A bit like an old-fashioned gratin that brings you back to childhood or Sunday family lunch, replacing the iconic roast chicken when you have little time to prepare the meal. It’s also a dish prepared for weekdays in many French families as it’s easy, and so comforting.
Most often prepared with bechamel sauce, I’m sharing with you a simpler and quicker variation with heavy cream and cheese instead of Béchamel. But don’t worry, I’ll also have the directions for the perfect homemade béchamel sauce option if you prefer.
The star ingredient: Belgian endive
Called endive (or chicon) in France, this variety of chicory can be found all over the country in supermarkets or on farmers’ market stalls. You can now buy Belgian endive all year long, but the season is from autumn (October) to Spring (April or May, according to varieties).
In France, endives are eaten both cooked and raw, as in this recipe, which is one of the most common ways, mainly in mixed salads, my favorite is to add cheese and apple slices.
Another fun way to propose raw Belgian endives is to use the whole leaves of endives and dress them in a dip, for example, tuna and cream cheese or salmon rillettes. I also use endives to serve baked brie, you should try!
How can you prevent the cooked endives from being bitter?
Here are two tips:
- I recommend choosing Belgian endives that are not too large, white in color, and with yellow tips. Avoid endives that are slightly old, with yellow tips turning green, as they will be more bitter.
- Second tip: take your time with the first step, gently cooking them in a little broth with a pinch of sugar per endive.
Ham
In France, we distinguish two categories of ham. Jambon cru (cured ham) and Jambon cuit (cooked ham), also called Jambon de Paris / Paris or Parisian ham. Ham is cooked for hours in a flavorful broth rather than smoked, with the fat cap and skin left intact.
Jambon de Paris is the star ingredient of the most renowned French sandwich, le Jambon beurre / ham and butter sandwich. Another iconic French dish with ham is croque monsieur.
If you bake this recipe out of France, use the ham you can find: boneless country ham, smoked ham, or even bacon or cured ham. The taste will be different from what you would have with French ham, but I’m sure it will add a nice touch! And to be honest, I sometimes bake this recipe with slices of cured ham.
Béchamel or cream?
There are two main ways to make endives au jambon:
- Either, as here, in a rapid and easy version with just heavy cream and grated cheese.
- Either with a béchamel sauce instead of cream. Opt for homemade béchamel sauce—I have a recipe here on the blog where I reveal all my secrets, quantities, and steps for foolproof béchamel sauce—rather than store-bought ready-made béchamel sauce.
For bechamel here are several possibilities. It’s up to you.
- The béchamel sauce with grated cheese on top for a decadent braised touch
- Upgrade the béchamel sauce by adding grated hard cheese like Comté or Emmental (plus more on top!) or make a Mornay sauce, which is a béchamel sauce with grated cheese and egg yolks.
- Lighten your béchamel by mixing half béchamel and half Greek yogurt.
I find the recipe more indulgent and creamier with cream, but it’s all a matter of taste. Feel free to adapt this recipe by replacing the cream with béchamel sauce. The rest remains the same.
The main steps of the recipe
Step 1:
Allow two Belgian endives per person: two medium-sized endives per person for a complete dish.
The first step is to sauté the whole endives in a well-buttered pan with a little salt and sugar.
For each endive, use 1 pinch of sugar and 1 pinch of salt. That’s why I kept the unit of measurement as a pinch and didn’t add everything up; it’s a handy way to remember the technique.
Step 2:
Next, place the endives in an ovenproof ramekin or gratin dish and cover halfway with a good vegetable (or chicken) stock. Cover and bake gently in the oven at 180°C/350°F for about 30 minutes.
Covering is important so that endives are well steamed and tender without drying out. Turn the endives regularly so that they soak up the broth.
Note: You can boil endives instead for 30 to 40 min instead. Easier but less tasty.
Step 3:
Remove the endives from the oven and drain them. Don’t throw away the remaining flavorful broth. It can be used in other recipes.
Wrap each endive in ½ or 1 slice of ham, depending on the size of the ham and endives.
Separately, mix the heavy cream with the grated cheese. You can replace half of the cream with Greek yogurt for a slightly lighter recipe. Or opt for the traditional bechamel if you prefer.
Step 4:
Return the endives to the dish, cover with the cream and cheese mixture, and more grated cheese on top. Bake at 140°C/285°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Switch to the grill function for the last 5 minutes to brown the top.
Belgian endives gratin with ham and cheese, recipe without béchamel sauce
Ingredients
- 4 Belgian endives 2 per person
- 4 pinches sugar
- 4 pinches salt
- 2 large knobs butter
- 500 ml vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 4 slices ham cooked ham
- 75 g grated cheese Comté, Emmental, etc.
- 50 gr heavy cream
Instructions
Pre-cooking the endives
- Melt the butter in a frying pan. Rinse the endives and remove any damaged outer leaves.
- Gently fry the endives on all sides, turning them regularly, for about ten minutes.
- Place the endives in an ovenproof dish. Pour in the vegetable stock until they are half covered. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 350°F for 30 minutes, turning the endives halfway through cooking.
Prepare the endives with ham
- Remove the endives from the oven, drain any remaining juice, and lower the oven temperature to 140°C/285°F.
- Wrap each endive in ham, using one slice of ham per endive. Butter the baking dish and arrange the endives wrapped in ham.
- Mix the heavy cream with 50 gr of grated cheese (or make a bechamel, instructions here) and pour over the endives wrapped in ham. Add the remaining 25 (or more!) gr on top.
Finish baking
- Bake for another 20 minutes at 140°C/285°F, switching to the broiler setting for the last 5 minutes to brown the top.
Notes
Read in the article more detailed instructions to guide you.