Baked chicory with chicken and sage mustard sauce
Are you a fan of chicory with ham and cheese from the oven? Then you should actually try this baked chicory with chicken in creamy mustard sauce. It’s addictively delicious!
Baked chicory in mustard sauce
I once made this baked endive casserole as part of a budget challenge I did with Esmée. That’s why you see two very different photos here. The one below is an old one from the very first time I made this dish and the one above is the photo as it appeared in my cookbook (delicious Chaos.. Pretty old by now).
I really made this baked chicory so many times by now and it remains one of my favorite ways to eat chicory.
To make this delicious casserole, start by cooking the chicory in some white wine. This is optional by the way, you can also use broth or water for this if you don’t want to take wine. Eventually a large part of it will evaporate but if you have kids eating along then use broth.
I usually cut the chicory into four pieces before baking. Lengthwise. You can also cut it smaller so it cooks easier and you have less problems with too much moisture that you can’t squeeze out. So you “cook” the chicory for this recipe in the oven. Cover it with aluminum foil and put it in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.
If you have very thick stalks of chicory make sure you either cut them smaller or cook them a little longer. If you prick it with a fork it should be able to go in. It doesn’t have to be super cooked at this stage. You will also cook the endive in the oven for an additional 20 minutes later.
Baked chicken
While the endive is cooking in the oven, bake the chicken strips crispy and golden brown and then get to work on that delicious mustard cream sauce. Of course, that sauce is the hero of this dish because without it, it would just be a boring mess.
You pour the mustard sauce over the fried chicory and chicken strips and then sprinkle this with some more delicious grated cheese. I like old cheese so that’s what I put on top, but of course you can choose another cheese of your choice here.
If you like blue cheese then you can put some on top of that too, because those flavors also go very well with the baked endive.
To finish baking, put the baking dish with the sauce on top in the oven for another 20 minutes or so and then just wait for it to finish before you can attack.
You can then serve the dish with mashed potatoes, celeriac puree or baked potatoes. Or eat it as is. You can do that too, of course. The quantity is for 4 people as a side dish. If you want to serve it as a main dish then you can use a little more praise.
Baked chicory with chicken and mustard sage sauce
Ingredients
- 3 heads chicory
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp dry white wine stock or water
- 500 gr chicken filet
- 25 gr butter
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic
FOR THE SAUCE
- 25 gr butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 300 ml milk
- 150 ml creme fraiche
- 4-6 sage leaves
- 4-5 tsp mustard
- 50 gr grated cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180˚ C (350˚F). Remove the outer ends of the chicory and remove any ugly looking leaves. Than cut the chicory lengthwise in four pieces. Pour the oliveoil into an ovendish and put the chicory in, single layer, cut side up.
- Pour the wine or stock in and cover with aluminium foil. Put in the oven for ten minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Cut the chicken into 1 cm thick strips. Add salt and pepper and melt the butter in a large frying pan until hot. Ad the chicken and bake until golden brown. Add the onion and garlic and bake this for another minute.
- Remove the ovendish from the oven and add the chicken mixture to the chicory. Put the foil back and set to the side while you’re preparing the sauce.
- Melt the butter for the sauce in the frying pan (no need to wash first) and stir in the flour. Add the milk bit by bit and keep stirring until the mixture thickens a bit
- Remove from the fire and add the creme fraiche, the sage and the mustard. Stir and taste if you need to ad any more seasoning or mustard.
- Pour the sauce over the chicory and chicken and cover with grated cheese. Put this in the oven – without the foil this time – for about 25-30 minutes until the sauce bubbles and the cheese is golden
Nutrition Information
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
That looks delish Simone, real tasty comfort food!
Janie x
It is Janie. Really good!
This dish is new to me but I think I’d really enjoy it.
this looks so good. i’m in the US and we have a variety of greens that identify as chicory. can you tell me which “chicory” you used for this dish?
A variety of chicory? Really? And here I am thinking there is only just the one. It’s the white elongated shape, which has usually greenish tips. You can also eat it raw and maybe you know it as the name witlof as well? I have heard that mentioned before in some program I believe. Does that clear things up, or should I try and get a picture?