I’ve always had endive in a salad or as a serving vessel for a great dip or filling like my Belgian Endive Salad Cups with Corn, Avocado and Feta. So when I first saw this recipe online I was intrigued. Belgian Endive and Ham Gratin (endives au Jambon) is a French dish and serves the endive cooked whole. Interesting right? But when you wrap it in ham and smother it in a cheesy Gruyère sauce known as Mornay, it started calling to me. Just about anything covered in cheese works for me. LOL
Before we get started on the recipe, let’s talk a little about it’s French name. Let me break it down for you. Endives is pretty straight forward – endive lettuce. The au jambon translates to ham. Although, I’ve seen it used to describe Prosciutto, and Parisian ham which is made from the meat of the back of the pig’s leg and is often salted and smoked. Loosely translated, it refers to ham in this recipe.
French or Parisian ham is not always easy to find in the US, so I just substituted an American ham (Boar’s Head) and it worked just fine. So, basically endive jambon or endive au jambon is translated into endive wrapped in ham.
While endive is a pretty bland vegetable on it’s own, when roasted in the salted water, it picks up some flavor. Wrapping the roasted endive in salty ham, takes it to the next level. But the pièce de résistance is the thick, cheesy Mornay sauce.
What is Mornay Sauce?
Mornay sauce is a classic béchamel sauce which is one of the five French mother sauces that has been enhanced with Gruyère cheese. You’ll also see Parmesan cheese added in some recipes. You’ll find this sauce recipe used on protein and veggies and in some upscale mac and cheese recipes.
The basis of the sauce is a roux which is a mixture of flour and butter combined over heat to create a thick paste. This is then combined with milk and whisked together to cream a thick and creamy base which is then enhanced and flavored with the cheese. Learn to make this sauce and then use it on everything.
When you make this sauce and pour it over your ham wrapped endive, you wind up with this delicious bite of food. The endive almost has a meat-like consistency when baked and the ham and cheese sauce makes it a complete meal. So unique and so good.
How to make endive au jambon
To get started on the Belgian Endive and Ham Gratin (Endives au Jambon), you want to start by prepping the endive. We need to precook the endive to soften them up a bit before baking them in the gratin. Many recipes will call for boiling the endive in salted water but I found that it made the endive a bit soggy and it was really hard to squeeze out all the water to keep the dish from getting water logged.
Alternatively, I found that if you preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and put a half a cup of water with a good amount of salt into a glass casserole dish, I could roast the endive to soften them and flavor them slightly with the salt, and keep them from getting loaded with water. Almost all of the water evaporates during the roasting process and I simply have to drain the roasted endive on paper towels before baking them.
I remove any brown or bruised leaves from the outside of the endive. Then I trim the bottoms of the endive but cutting a thin amount off the end and then cutting a V into the core end. I don’t want to remove that stem end completely or the heads of endive will fall apart. By cutting the V, I remove most of the tough core plus leave room for the water and steaming that happens during roasting to penetrate the endive.
Add the water and salt into your casserole dish and put in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes to steam and gently soften the endive.
Remove from the oven and place the roasted endive on paper towel covered plates to drain and cool. Press down gently to remove any excess water. You don’t want the water in the casserole when you are ready to bake. Keep the oven heated. Move on to making the sauce.
In a large non-stick skillet, add the butter and let melt. Add the flour and stir until everything is incorporated and a roux is formed. It will come together in a big ball and pull away from the sides of the skillet with no problem.
Gradually add the milk and continue whisking the whole time. You really want to work the milk into the roux breaking up and pieces. Keep whisking until it is completely smooth and the sauce starts to thicken and bubbles slightly. This can take awhile so be patient and work out all the lumps. Because you are working in a non-stick skillet, be sure you are working with a silicone whisk so you don’t scratch your pans.
Remove the pan from the heat and add in your cheese, nutmeg and black pepper and continue whisking until smooth. You want to do this off the heat so you don’t continue cooking. You want this thick, smooth and completely incorporated.
Note that I grate fresh whole nutmeg into the dish using a fine hand held grater. You can use canned nutmeg but by grating it yourself, you get a light and fragrant dusting of flavor. Definitely worth doing yourself.
Next, spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Alternatively, you can rub butter on the interior of the baking dish for even more flavor.
Roll each cooled endive in a slice of ham and put the wrapped endive in the casserole dish.
Once you have all the endive wrapped and in the casserole dish, you are ready to top it with the Mornay sauce.
Spread the Mornay sauce over the top completely covering all the ham and endive. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until everything is heated through and the cheese is bubbling.
Place the casserole until the broiler for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is browned in spots. Remove from the oven and let sit about five – 10 minutes minutes before serving. I like to grind more pepper and grate more nutmeg over the top before serving.
I serve one smothered endive per person and often serve it with a side salad. Endive au Jambon makes a fabulous lunch or light dinner. If you haven’t tried cooked endive, I think you are going to really enjoy this dish.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a rating and comment below. I’d love to hear what you thought of it. Looking for other French inspired recipes, be sure to try these:
Brioche French Toast Casserole
Light & Creamy Chicken & Asparagus Crepes
Belgian Endive and Ham Gratin (Endives au Jambon)
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 4 Belgian endives
- Kosher salt
- 4 slices of Parisian Ham (Jambon de Paris), or regular Virginia ham
Mornay sauce:
- ¼ Cup butter, unsalted
- 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
- 2 Cups 2% or 1 % milk
- ½ Tsp. Kosher salt
- ½ Tsp. Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ Tsp. Freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 Cup Gruyere cheese, grated
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F. Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
- Prep your endive by cutting off the tough end. You don’t want to completely cut through the endive stem or the head of endive will fall apart. Simply cut out a V from the bottom (see photo). Place the endive in an oven-proof skillet with a half cup of water and a large pinch of salt and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. This will bake and steam them making them softer and more delicious when baked. flip once half way through cooking. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and drain well. Gently squeeze any excess water from the endive. Otherwise, it will dilute your sauce. Let cool.
- Make the Mornay Sauce. Melt the butter in a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle with the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly with a spatula, until a thick paste forms (your roux) that leaves the edges of the pan clean. Switch to a whisk, and add the milk slowly, stirring constantly. Keep whisking while you bring this to a low boil. Keep whisking as the sauce thickens. Once thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the grated Gruyere, black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Wrap each of the cooled endive in a slice of ham and place them in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Place them next to each other so they are holding each other in place. Cover with the Mornay Sauce and sprinkle with black pepper and more nutmeg if you like.Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until the cheese is lightly bubbling. Finish under the broiler. You want to get some nice brown spots (about 2-3 minutes). Let cool for 10 minutes and serve. Enjoy.
