Pan Roasted Endive with Gremolata

Pan roasted endive

This pan roasted endive works well with the slow baked salmon I made yesterday. It’s one of those perfect pairings that incorporates bitter, salt and sour. Endive can taste quite bitter and is the main reason people don’t eat it that much. Here in the Netherlands you can find it everywhere and is quite common in the Dutch cuisine.

Endive is grown in the dark, so that the leaves don’t open up and stay tight together in a little bulb and the color stays creamy light yellow. If exposed to light for too long the color will turn green. When buying endive, you want to check the color to see if it’s mostly white with only the tops turning slightly pale green or reddish-purple. Endive turns bitter once it’s been exposed to light, it’s the color pigmentation that develops the bitterness in this vegetable, so pay close attention to the color when buying and eat it as soon as possible.

The whole process of growing endive in the dark was an accidental discovery by a Belgian farmer in 1831 which is why it’s also commonly known as Belgian endive. He saved some chicory root after harvest in his cellar with the intention of roasting them and making a coffee substitute, the rest is history.


Pan Roasted Endive with Gremolata

Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time6 mins
Total Time16 mins
Servings: 2
Author: Kyara

Ingredients

Endive

  • 500 gram endive
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Gremolata

  • handful parsley chopped
  • handful coriander chopped
  • 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • handful walnuts chopped
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  • For the gremolata, simply mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
  • Remove the outer layer of the endive and any brown leaves.
  • Cut the endives in half, lengthwise on the narrowest side. That way you have more endive surface area that will get charred. 
  • Heat up an iron cast pan and coat with olive oil.
  • Place the endives facing down in the pan make sure not to crowd the pan.
  • Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
  • Cover pan for 5-6 minutes to cook completely. The bottom will get a nice char and the rest of the endive will cook through the steaming process by covering it up.
  • Remove from pan and sprinkle gremolata on top.