This braised chicory gratin is bathed in garlic spiked cream with a hint of dijon mustard and plenty of gruyère cheese. It's delicious served with a simple salad and some crusty bread.
I think we all need some creamy cheesiness right now 💛
How do you feel about chicory? Up until fairly recently I hadn't really tried it, then it showed up in our seasonal veg box and we realised we needed to find something to do with it.
Every suggestion online seemed to consist of either a salad, which really didn't appeal considering how cold it's been recently, or cooking it with cheese. Of course we went for the cheesy option.
Most of the recipes I found suggested simply cooking the halved chicory sprinkled with cheese but I decided to take it up a notch with a cheesy and creamy gratin.
Why we love this recipe...
This recipe only needs a handful of ingredients but is completely packed with flavour thanks to the gruyère cheese and mustard.
It's such an easy to make recipe with most of the time being hands off while it bubbles away in the oven getting all golden and tasty.
You can serve this dish in so many different ways. It works great as a side dish with steak or another meat or just as a main dish with a side salad or some vegetables.
While gruyère isn't suitable for vegetarians you can easily switch it for another cheese to make the recipe vegetarian.
Ingredients
This section is here to provide further tips and ideas for alternative ingredients. The full recipe and instructions are included in the recipe card at the bottom of the post!
Chicory: These are cut into wedges before bathing in cream and cheese. You could also use this method for other vegetables such as fennel, radicchio or cabbage.
White Wine: This is used to braise the chicory wedges before baking the gratin so that they're super soft and flavourful. If you don't like to cook with alcohol or don't have wine to hand you can also use stock.
Cream Sauce: This is made from a mix of double cream, gruyère cheese, dijon mustard and garlic. You could also add a pinch of chilli flakes if you like a kick. Cheddar or another good melty cheese would work in place of the gruyère if you want to make this vegetarian.
How to make it
Braise the chicory: Put the chicory wedges in an ovenproof dish with a lid and add the wine. Bring to a boil over a medium high heat with the lid on. When it's boiling remove the lid and turn down the heat, leave to simmer for 15 minutes.
Make the cream sauce: Mix together the cream, dijon mustard, garlic and cheese. Season well.
Make the gratin: Remove the chicory from the heat, pour over the cream sauce and place in the oven. Bake until browned and bubbling.
Head to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities and timings.
Want more? Try these other vegetarian recipes!
- Mushrooms on Toast with Vegetable Top Pesto
- Butternut Squash Wellington with Goat's Cheese
- Mushroom Gnocchi with Thyme
- Roast Cauliflower Soup with Preserved Lemon & Miso
- Breakfast Muffin with Halloumi & Avocado Salsa
- Cauliflower Bake with Tomato & Mozzarella
- Vegan Zuppa Toscana
Recipe
Braised Chicory Gratin with Gruyère
Ingredients
- 2 Chicory cut into wedges
- 250 ml White Wine
- 75 g Gruyère grated
- 2 cloves Garlic crushed
- 200 ml Double Cream
- 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200°C. Put the chicory wedges in an over safe casserole dish with a lid. Add the wine and bring to a boil over a medium high heat with the lid on. Once it's boiling turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes then remove from the heat.
- While the chicory cooks mix the cream with the garlic, grated cheese, mustard and plenty of salt and pepper. Whisk until fully mixed.
- Make sure the chicory is in a single layer then pour over the cream mixture and press down slightly to submerge. Put in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour until browned and bubbling.
Notes
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Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
Just tried this recipe and my family loved it. Thank you so much!
Biana says
This looks so delicious! I love gratins, and will be giving this one a try soon.
Susan Chamberlain says
This was very tasty. I added a leek & 2 shallots as I only had one head of chicory. You could use less wine as I found there was a lot of sauce left over (or you could be greedy & dunk lots of bread to finish off!!!)
Michelle says
I've never cooked with chicory before, but this sauce looks so creamy and amazing, you can't go wrong!
Alison says
This is a delicious way to enjoy chicory! Tastes great on top of toasty bread!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh that looks lush. I just want to dig a spoon in. Yum!