Endive/chicory are not just good for salads–they are delicious slow braised with a couple of additions if you like…
This was lunch and made a pretty picture.
It was also light and a bit exotic.
This time of year there’s a local grower of these white torpedoes selling only them in Castres market on Saturdays.
I chose fat ones for the long slow cooking that reduces them nicely into a super-soft state.
A poached egg (or two) on top and a couple of small discs of pancetta, crisped in the still hot oven, meld with the little sauce of lemon and olive oil.
for 2
3/4 fat endives–bruised outer leaves removed and the bitter root end skewered out.
3 tbsp olive oil
juice of a lemon
4 eggs
4 thin slices pancetta
salt and pepper
Heat the oven to 170C
Heat the oil in an ovenproof pan with a lid.
Lay in the endive and season well with a teaspoon of salt and several twists of the pepper mill.
Turn the endive [confusingly it’s called chicory in the UK] in the oil and seasoning.
Let them color and caramalise a little.
Pour over the lemon juice and cover.
Place in the middle of the oven and cook for two hours.
Check after an hour that all is well and turn them–taking care to keep them in one piece.
After about two hours take them out of the oven and let them rest, covered with foil.
Turn up the oven temperature to 200C and crisp up the pancetta pieces–about ten minutes.
Poach the eggs in simmering hot water to which you have added a splash of red/white vinegar.
The vinegar, in principal, will encourage the whites of the eggs to act in a more orderly fashion–doesn’t always work!
Arrange the endive on two plates and…
when you judge the eggs are done as you like them lift them out with a slotted spoon and place them decoratively on the endives.
Finish the plate off with the pancetta.
“DING!”– said the chief taster!
Robin Ellis 
Dear Mr Ellis, I am enjoying receiving your posts by email. It was a happy accident that I found your site last week after reminiscing with a friend that I had your picture covering an exercise book in 1975 at Secondary School.
I am loving reading all the recipes and have just purchased pancetta, goat’s cheese and shallots for the last one you posted for this Sunday’s meal. I am on the 5:2 fasting diet but I think this meal won’t be on one of the two 500 calorie days!
Re: poaching eggs. I have been using a dash of Sherry wine vinegar after years of not using any vinegar and being very hit and miss in my poaching success rate. It was that or malt vinegar!!! Will now give red/white vinegar a go.
All the best to you and yours,
Tracey
Great Tracey–give them a go. And welcome!
Looks delicious for a Sunday when you have the time for the 2hrs+ to slow cook or on a snowy mid winter day… I will be trying this, thank you for sharing Robin!
Adore braised chicory…did you know it’s called ‘witlof’ in Australia which always makes me giggle for some reason! We do ours with stock & a little red wine and serve it as a side dish…yours looks delicious. I love the rustic plate too, very photogenic! Hope you are both keeping warm…
Plate made locally. “Witlof”?–it already has too many names! Foltiw backwards marginally worse. Warm as toast thanks, Rachel.
…looks great, Robin! I think I may have an easier time finding the endive in Kennett Square than pancetta. Fortunately, I am driving to West Chester on Saturday.
You could try Proscuitto/parma ham too Chris–good luck!
Thank you, Robin! I’ll make that plan B!
I discussed this recipe with my favorite French chef, who said she will make this but instead of eggs will grate Gruyere cheese on top and pop it under the broiler for a minute or so. I look forward to trying this – I usually ate endive raw as a quick bit of crunch with luncheon.
Hi Robin: We braised endive for lunch today and used your recipe. The egg and pancetta were delicious. The endive looked tasty and was very soft, but it was bitter. An acquired taste or, did we just use an inferior product. What do you think?
Hi Betsy,
Did you tweak out the hard end of the endive?
It can have a bitter residue.
You obviously cooked it long enough because you say it was very soft.
I want to try the same thing using little gem lettuces, halved.
You might experiment with that.
Not sure before I try it how long to cook them though.
Thanks, Robin. We did hollow out the root end. Not sure that ‘fresh vegetables’ and ‘long Wisconsin winters’ are compatible!
Worth another try?
Definitely. I would like to use baby bok choy in my next attempt!
Excellent idea!
From a dinner out where we ate a delicious grilled branzino which “…comes with roasted Yukon Gold potatoes, seared escarole (a variety of endive), and grilled lemon & Tuscan olive oil.” Did not know about escarole and endive connection. Promise this is my last comment on the subject!
We had escarole and chorizo salad from DDfD for lunch–worked well, though I didn’t have any sherry.
Dear Robin, by chance I bought the Sun newspaper where there was an article about yourself and the original Poldark series. It gave details of robin.ellis.net and so I thought Id find it so I could say how I remembered as a young Firefighter here in Jersey CI when on duty on a sunday night hoping upon hope with the rest of the Watch that we wouldn’t get a call out whilst watching Poldark. A fantastic series brilliantly produced and in my opinion a greater production than the current one. Best regards and hope to try some of your recipes soon. Brian Villette
Thank you, Brian–glad you reconnected. I love the idea of you firefighters sitting around watching and hoping there’s no emergency!
Brilliant to hear from you Robin. Oh yes we were praying there was no ” Shout ” as at that time we didn’t have a video recorder. That was one hell of a special program for Blue Watch, it was always said we were the educated intellectual watch Sunday evening was Poldark and Mastermind
Poldark and Mastermind in the same breath! Bluewatch had taste–never mind the “intellectual” bit!
I was interested to read that you are type two diabetic, just before xmas 2 years ago I too was diagnosed as that. I told my gp that I was not going to remain so and I was going to beat it. at that time I was 26 stone and drinking 2 to 3 litres of full sugar coke a day. I did a lot of research and found a Professor at Newcastle University had done studies and carried out a diet procedure on a selected group of type 2’s which basically amounted to going on a 600 calorie a day diet for 6 weeks if I remember correctly and he believed this cured a high percentage. I wanted to try this diet but could not find any details other that that it was basically shakes. So I decided to try my own balanced diet of 600 cals a day. Basically I stopped potatoes, rice, pasta and bread. However when I got up I had two ryvita with cottage cheese. At lunch I had the same with maybe a slice or two of ham and a piece of cheddar. I had the same for dinner with fried mixed peppers and mushrooms, a big pile served with a big steak , pork chop or pork sausages. Before I went to bed I again had the ryvita. as for drinking obviously I stopped coke, but I cant drink tea or coffee without sugar, so it was water until I found Alpro Almond milk. It is pure almond with minimal sugar. I now have a mug of coffee made with this and heated in microwave twice a day. So over 6 weeks I lost nearly 4 stone, I then modified to a thousand cals a day and finally lost 5.5 stone in about 8 weeks. I then saw my consultant who took me off the metformin telling me I was clear. Sadly I have been on a couple of cruises and put on some weight but I am still clear. Obviously giving up coke made a vast difference.
Great achievement to lose 5.5 stone, Brian. Slowly does it though.
When I was diagnosed I threw out “The whites”. White bread, white rice, white pasta–all the refined carbs that convert too quickly to sugar in the system. Potatoes too–high glycemic index. But I eat wholewheat pasta once a week, I have two slices of whole rye every morning and we enjoy basmati brown rice from time to time.
I have never taken sugar in coffee or tea–my parents didn’t, I’m lucky. What I like now is hot water poured on a mint leaf or a chopped up piece of fresh ginger.
Good evening Robin,,it just occurred to me that over recent months a big thing has been made over the vast increase in Type 2 over here in Jersey and I wondered if it might be a good idea for you with your knowledge particularly culinary to come over and do a talk. Maybe we / I could encourage someone to sponsor it. Maybe during the Jersey good food festival. Your thoughts!
Thank you for the suggestion, Brian. This year we are too busy–four workshops plus…
Perhaps when my new book comes out next year it would be good.
That sounds like a plan, good publicity maybe, could be good publicity, maybe book signing, worth thinking about, MAYBE
Exactly, Brian!
Hi Robin, Just thought Id drop you a line with one of my culinary creations not suitable for we diabetics but I thought with your expertise you could remodel it so it was suitable. Obviously quantities depend on number being catered for. I generally cater for four.
So you will need 4 nice sized fillets of plaice or sole or whatever flatfish you like or get down there. Enough smoked salmon thin sliced to cover each fillet. Then roll into a roulade and secure with cocktail stick. Place in a casserole dish and surround with medium sized prawns and button mushrooms. Pour in enough double cream to come half way up the roulades sprinkle with paprika and fresh parsley and black pepper to taste garnish with a king prawn and sweet tomatoes. Place in medium oven till cooked Shame the cream has to go . Brian in Jersey