Belgian Endives and Ham au Gratin

This Belgian endives and ham au gratin is a kid friendly veggie recipe that doesn’t taste like veggies thanks to the cheesy bechamel sauce.

Belgian endives and ham au gratin is a real classic here in France!

This recipe is a good trick to make your kids (or even adults) eat more veggies as the main ingredient is endive. But it really doesn’t really taste like it thanks to the cheesy bechamel sauce and the ham wrapped around each endive.

Ingredients

• endives
• ham. The type of ham I'm using is called "cooked ham" in France. But you can use any kind of ham you want or have on hand.
• bechamel sauce. It is a French white medium-thick sauce. It is usually made with butter and wheat flour. Although here, I'm using a gluten free, dairy free version of it. You can either use my gluten and dairy free bechamel recipe or use a regular bechamel if you're not gluten nor dairy free. This sauce is used a lot in France to make all kinds of casserole or, as we call them "gratin". This sauce makes it much easier for kids to eat vegetables.
• grated cheese of your choice : as I can't have cow dairy I'm using sheep cheese (a French cheese called Ossau-Iraty). But you can use cheddar, gruyère, emmental or whatever you prefer.

How to make endives au gratin

• Rince the endives and cut the reddish end. Then, cook them for about 10 minutes in a steamer or in boiling water.

• In the meantime, prepare the bechamel sauce.
• Drain the endives. Then roll each one in a ham slice and put them in a baking dish (as shown on the pictures below).

• Add half of the grated cheese to the bechamel. Mix well with a whip.
• Pour the Bechamel sauce over the endives. Add the rest of grated cheese all over the endives.

• Bake for about 30 minutes or until it gets a nice golden color and voilà! Serve warm.

Other recipes you might like

With bechamel sauce

• Scalloped Potatoes with gluten free Bechamel
• or Cauliflower Casserole with gluten free Bechamel

With Belgian endives

• French Endive Apple Walnut Salad