How To Cook Endive?

How to cook Endive
cook Endive

How to cook Endive? Endive is a versatile vegetable. You can stir-fry, eat raw, steam, or boil endive. You can also use endive in a stew. Plenty of options! The big question is usually how do I cook the endive before or with something. That’s in this blog.

How to cook Endive?

Cut and wash the endive and let it drainTake a large pan and put the endive with the water in the panPlace the pan on the heat source and let it boil gently.  Boil the endive for 10 minutes then it is cooked. Drain the endive in a colander. 

This is one of the ways to cook endive. Sometimes you don’t have to cook endive, but more on that later. We start with the explanation of cutting and washing endive. An important part of cooking endive. I explain to you why.

Endive can be seasoned very well with herbs and other seasonings. Read our blog ‘ Which Herbs For Endive? ‘. Do you have leftover endive or an endive dish and do you want to keep it? Then read our blog ‘ How to store endive? ‘.

Endive Cutting

Place the endive on a cutting plant with the stump facing out. You start cutting on the side of the leaves because then the stump does not fall apart during the cutting. That cuts a lot easier, I think, but of course, it can also be done the other way. Cuts thin or thick bars, just what you find easy or nice.

Good and sharp knives are essential during your work in the kitchen. This makes work fun and easy. This knife block on bol.com is highly recommended!

Endive Wash

Endive that you get from the supermarket or from the farmer is always covered in sand. After all, they grow on the ground and there are also some vermin that like a nice leaf. You are less bothered by this when the endive comes out of the greenhouse, but washing is always recommended.

So you have cut the endive that now needs to be washed. Put the endive in a colander if it is not so much and rinse it. I always put the endive for 4 people in the sink with water and stir it nicely to rinse off the sand and vermin. 

Take it out again with the colander and put the endive with the remaining water in a large pan. This is enough water for the endive to cook.

Endive Cooking

Cooking endive is actually easy. It goes like this:

  1. The water that ‘hangs’ on the endive is enough to cook with. So don’t shake it. Place the pan with endive on a high heat source but keep it close.
  2. When it boils you can lower it because otherwise, the water evaporates so quickly than it boils dry. Put a lid on the pan.
  3. You can now decide for yourself how long you want to cook it. The cooking time determines the dish and your taste buds.

If you want soft endive, you can cook it for 15 minutes, for example. All vitamins are then cooked from the endive, but it is really soft.  

If you want the endive that is al dente, so with vitamins, then cook between 7 and 8 minutes. Immediately drain the endive otherwise it will continue to cook.

Did you know that your endive can also be wok very well and it is done in no time, it only takes a few minutes.

Endive Cooking Sauce

Cooking endive with a sauce is always very tasty. There are several ways to make a sauce. This is one of them.

bechamel

Make a bechamel sauce to add the sauce to the endive after cooking the endive as described above. 

Making a béchamel sauce is not that difficult:

  • 20 grams of flour
  • 20 grams of vegetable butter
  • 200 ml plant-based milk
  • pepper and salt
  • nutmeg
  1. Melt the butter in the pan over low heat.
  2. Immediately add all the flour and stir until all the flour has been incorporated into the butter.
  3. Turn the heat to almost half heat and keep stirring for 3 minutes to cook the flour otherwise you will have a flour taste to your béchamel sauce.
  4. Lower the heat and add a little milk, but beware, it will steam and the milk will be immediately absorbed into the flour. KEEP stirring quickly until all the milk is absorbed and immediately add a little more milk. Stir vigorously and quickly so that there are no lumps. Add some more milk and keep stirring until all the milk is used up and the sauce is smooth.
  5.  Pff, now you have a nice smooth sauce. Add some nutmeg and salt and pepper. Taste to see if this is enough for you, if not, add more.

Add this sauce to your cooked endive, little by little and stir well. See for yourself how much you want to do. That’s different for everyone.

Enjoy your meal!

Ready to cook endive

Buying ready-made endive is always easy, but there are drawbacks. Buying ready-made endive is expensive and some of the vitamins have been lost.  

For days when it has to be faster than usual, it is always a solution. You do not have to wash this endive, that has already been done in the factory. You put a layer of water in the pan and add the endive. You also cook the endive as described above in the chapter ‘Cooking endive’.

Endive Cooking And Herbs

There are not that many herbs that are used to season endive, but they are very tasty.

  • Coriander
  • Parsley
  • chives
  • salt
  • Pepper
  • Nutmeg

How do you add the herbs to the endive?

Endive with coriander 

Cook the endive as described above and fry an onion in the meantime. Add a tablespoon of masala powder. Stir well. Make the mashed potatoes. Chop the coriander and add the endive and the other ingredients to the mashed potatoes, little by little, mixing well.

Endive with parsley

Make an endive stew as described at the bottom of the blog. Fry onion and add parsley and chives to it. Stir it briefly and add it to the endive stew. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

Endive with nutmeg

Cook the endive as described above ‘Cooking endive’. After draining, you can add nutmeg to the endive, but you can also make the béchamel sauce with nutmeg. This is described above.

Endive Cooking Cornflour

Cooking endive with cornflour is a grandmother’s recipe but is still used regularly. Cornflour is cornflour and ensures that a sauce or vegetable is thickened a bit.

The quantities are stated on the packaging. It goes like this:

Put the cornflour in a bowl and add some cold (soy) milk. Stir well until there are no more lumps. Then add the warm (soy) milk and make a paste of it. 

Now the Maizena paste can go through the endive and the endive is à la crème.

Endive Blanching

Blanching endive has a reason. Blanching kills all bacteria and fungi that are on the endive. That is why you should not blanch the endive for less than 3 minutes.

How Do You Blanch Endive?

First, wash and cut the endive. Meanwhile, there is a large pot of water on a heat source for boiling.

Place the endive in a large sieve or loose in the pan. You let the endive cook for 3 minutes. This is called blanching. Place the endive in a colander or remove the strainer from the boiling water. Rinse the endive with ice-cold water. This can be under the tap, but also in a container with ice water. If you don’t do this, the cooking will continue and you will have really cooked endive.

Endive Cooking And Freezing

If you want to freeze the endive because you bought too much endive, blanch the endive first. If you have cooked too much endive, you can freeze it after it has cooled down. When you put warm endive in the freezer, the freezer heats up and it has to work very hard to get and stay warm.  

You can divide the blanched or cooked endive into portions and freeze in good sealed freezer bags or containers. This is easy when you want to warm up endive for 1 person, for example.

Place a sticker on the bag or container and write on it what is in it and until when it can be used. Endive can be kept for a year if you freeze it at -18 degrees.

Endive Cooking Or Raw

You can cook this delicious vegetable and eat it raw. Make sure at all times that you wash it well and that all pests and sand are out.

When you eat endive raw, it contains more vitamins than when you cook endive for a long time.

You can eat endive in a salad, mixed with other types of lettuce and raw vegetables with a tasty dressing. 

When cooking endive, do not overcook it to preserve the vitamin.

Endive cooking for stew

If you want to use endive for stew, you have 2 options. Do the endive go raw through the mashed potatoes and let it shrink in it and become soft or do you cook the endive first before you put it through the mashed potatoes (for cooking, see the top of the blog). You can decide for yourself how long you want the endive cooked.

You can do both. Cut and wash the endive well at all times!

Most of the vitamins are preserved when you add raw endive to the mashed potatoes. It will shrink on its own in the hot mashed potatoes. As delicious as!

For mashed potatoes, you can mash potatoes with a splash of warm milk and a knob of butter.

Enjoy your meal!

Abbas Jahangir

I am a researcher and writer with a background in food and nutritional science. I am the founder of Foodstrend.com, our reputable online platform offering scientifically-backed articles on health, food, nutrition, kitchen tips, recipes, diet, and fitness. With a commitment to providing accurate and reliable information, we strive to empower our readers to make informed decisions about their health and lifestyle choices. Join us on Foodstrend.com's journey toward a healthier and happier lifestyle.

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