For ➍4 thick endives, about 1 kg
salt & black pepper
5 cl extra virgin olive oil
Turn on the broiler/grill.
Discard any of the endives’ bruised or wilted outer leaves. Remove the discolored surface portion of the stem. Wash the endives under cold running water, then shake off the moisture.
Cut each endive in half lengthwise. Make a cut in the root end, cutting half as deep as the root is thick and running the cut from the bottom to where the leaves join the root.
Place the endives cut side up on a broiling pan. Sprinkle with salt and grindings of pepper and pour the olive oil over it in a thin stream. Insert the pan in the broiler at the level farthest away from the heat.
After 10 m, turn the endives over and baste with the oil in the pan.
After 7 or 8 m, turn the endiver over once more so the cut side will again be facing up. Baste again with the oil from the pan, directing it, as much as possible, between one leaf and another, and adding fresh, raw oil if necessary.
Bake for about 5 m, depending on the thickness of the endive. It is done when you can easily pierce the root end with a fork. The tips of the leaves will be somewhat blackened. Serve hot or lukewarm.
This recipe is based on a traditional way of grilling radicchio di Treviso. This purple curly cousin of the same family as the Belgian endives can be difficult to find. Use sparkling white endives or the purplish variety.
Read the history of Belgian endives.
Read tip on broiling.
