Non-bitter Brusselslof/witlof (Endive)

My Dutch father-in-law grew white endive spears (Brusselslof/witlof) in the dark crawl space under the foyer of his house in Olst. It was really amusing to see all of those little veggie soldiers standing to attention in tidy rows when Pa shined his flashlight on them to show us. He was proud of his crop, and we were glad for the future side dish.

(Borrowed photo)

Here is my witlof side dish for tonight's dinner:

All ready for a 5 minute "meltdown" in a warm oven.

 Oven Witlof (Endive) with Ham and Cheese

2 spears of witlof per person

2 thin slices of ham per person

2 slices of good Dutch Gouda cheese per person

Butter for greasing the inside of the casserole dish

Preheat the oven to 375F or 200C.

Wash the witlof spears with lukewarm water, otherwise they will be bitter. (I sliced each spear lengthwise, but you can leave them whole.) Then cut off the end and remove ugly outside leaves. Mine had no ugly, brown leaves even after a week in the fridge!

Very important::::::: cut out the center hard white stem. It can be very bitter and ruin your dish. Cut it out and throw it away.

Next boil the witlof spears in salty water for about 20 minutes. Then carefully drain each stem without tearing it apart.

Wrap each spear (or half spear) first in a ham slice and then in a slice of cheese.

Be sure the oven casserole dish is buttered, and then line up the "wrapped" witlof spears any way you want as long as they are close together.

Place in the preheated oven and let the cheese get good and golden brown in about 5 minutes.

Delicious Oven Witlof is ready in 30 minutes!