How to prepare endives


How to prepare endives
A very classic recipe, but which can easily fail due to two main errors: too much water in bottom of dish because endives give off a lot, and endives that are too bitter so that children hate it.

Here is a method which avoids these two problems.
488 K 3.6/5 (251 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: February 14th 2012
For this recipe: Comment Send to a friend Ask me a question Follow Printable Diaporama
For 4 endives, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 20 min.
Resting: 5 min.
Cooking: 3 min.
All in all: 30 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - ⌛ 10 min.
How to prepare endives  : Stage 1
Trim a little from the base of 5 endives (head of chicory), remove and discard any untidy leaves, then wash endives.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 3 min.
How to prepare endives  : Stage 2
Boil a large pan of salted water.

With a small sharp knife, remove a small cone from the bottom and discard it. The cone size depends on endive size, usually about half an inch is fine.

This reduces the endive's bitter taste.

Note:If endive are medium or big size, think to cut them in two, from top to bottom, to reduce cooking and blenching time.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 3 min.
How to prepare endives  : Stage 3
Put endives in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes...

Stage 4 - ⌛ 5 min.
How to prepare endives  : Stage 4
... then remove them using a skimmer, put into very cold water.

You've just blanched endives, and we do that to reduce the bitterness still further.

Stage 5 - ⌛ 5 min.
How to prepare endives  : Stage 5
Leave endives in cold water for five minutes, then drain and dry them. The best way is to use a salad spinner, and then leave on a tea-towel.
Remarks
In this recipe I say "reduce bitterness" because we don't want to suppress it entirely: it's part of the endive taste, its character, that we should keep.
Keeping: Several days in the frifge, in a closed box.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe3 RDI=1 %10 RDI=1 %070 RDI=4 %290 RDI: 4 %
Per 100 g1 RDI=0 %4 RDI=0 %020 RDI=1 %80 RDI: 1 %
Per endives03 RDI=0 %020 RDI=1 %70 RDI: 1 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
How much will it cost?
  • For 4 endives : 0.45 €
  • Per endives : 0.15 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Other recipes you may also like
Gingerbread
Gingerbread
Maybe this recipe will bring back memories.
February 21th 2011298 K4.2 1 hour 4 min.
Pear tart with almond cream
Pear tart with almond cream
This is a very quick and easy tart to make, as everything (or almost) can be done in advance. A piece of sweetcrust pastry, some almond cream and pears? You have "everything you need".
March 17th 2011379 K4.3 1 hour 15 min.
European glass
European glass
A little dessert that's rather long to make, but which will always impress your guests. Layered in a glass: a jellied red fruit coulis, a layer of pineapple charlotte cream, a layer of kiwi coulis, topped with a peeled clementine segment. It's "european" because it resembles the italian flag, and in another version with apricot instead raspberries, the irish flag (a country so dear to me).
August 15th 2010244 K5 2 hours 30 min.
Macarons (the original French macaroons)
Macarons (the original French macaroons)
This recipe really is "of the moment": the success of these small, highly-coloured cakes, in an infinite variety of flavours, is impressive. It's a recipe which needs some care, in order to produce a result worthy of a professional pastrychef. No problem, I will guide you through the recipe, particularly the tricky parts. This variety of flavours means that I test many alternatives, so don't be surprised if in the pictures the colour of the macarons changes, I used the best photograph available...
October 3rd 20191.61 M 714.6 2 hours 40 min.
Meringues
Meringues
A very simple recipe but which always impresses.
June 10th 2019409 K4.5 4 hours 20 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-11-30)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this recipe (as 10 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page