Baked Endive and Pears in Blue Cream Sauce

by Dorothy Reinhold on March 2, 2014


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What the heck is Fat Sunday?

Well, Fat Tuesday is the traditional name for the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. It is aka Mardi Gras (which is French for “Fat Tuesday”), or also Shrove Tuesday.

On Fat Tuesday people feast with richer, fattier foods before the ritual fasting season of Lent, so today our Sunday Supper cooks have shifted it forward two days and made it Fat Sunday. We’re clever like that.

We’re feasting, baby, and to this groaning buffet table I have brought a decadent, elegant Baked Endive and Pears in Blue Cream Sauce.

Pears are traditional with blue cheese, and so this makes perfect sense. Slice the endives in half, slice the pears, tuck them together so they sleep like spoons in the dish, and pour a simple blue cheese sauce over all before a bake in the oven.

Baked Endive and Pears in Blue Cream Sauce | www.ShockinglyDelicious.comThis makes a restaurant-worthy dish that dresses up a plain roast chicken or steak dinner, or wows guests for a dinner party. It’s very impressive!

Recipe: Baked Endive and Pears in Blue Cream Sauce

Summary: Sweet pears and slightly bitter endive bathe in a light blue cheese cream sauce in this elegant, rich side dish.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream
  • 3 ounces (85 g) creamy blue cheese, such as Point Reyes Original Blue
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 endives, halved from stem to tip
  • 2 large pears, peeled, cored, halved and cut into thin slices or wedges

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 425F (220C/gas 7). Butter a baking dish (about 10- by 10-inch; any medium baking dish should work).
  2. Make the sauce: Pour cream into a saucepan and turn heat to medium. With your fingers, break apart the blue cheese into the cream. Heat, stirring, just until hot (it’s OK if the chunks of blue don’t entirely smooth out). Take the pan off the heat, stir in 1 tablespoon of the chopped chives, and season with pepper. Set aside.
  3. In the baking dish, arrange the endive, cut-side-up, alternative stem end and tip. Arrange the pears between each endive half. If you have more endive than can fit in one layer, top with the remaining endive halves, cut-side down. Pour on the cream sauce. The endive should not be submerged.Baked Endive and Pears in Blue Cream Sauce | www.ShockinglyDelicious.com
  4. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
  5. Bake for 15 minutes, and then remove foil. Continue baking until the cream sauce has reduced slightly and the tops of the endive are browned, another 20-25 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and let the dish cool for at least 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon of chopped chives over top, and then spoon up and enjoy while still warm. This is also very good cold the next day.
  7. Serves 4-6.

Source

Recipe from “Cowgirl Creamery Cooks,” by Sue Conley and Peggy Smith (2013; Chronicle Books; $35).

Sunday Supper

See this page for all the wonderful #SundaySupper dishes I have made since I joined this group, and links to all the other delicious dishes made by my fellow cooks.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 4-6
Culinary tradition: USA (General)
My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 

Today’s Sunday Supper recipes

Sunday Supper badgeThis week our #SundaySupper blogger crew is celebrating Fat Sunday, hosted by Leslie of La Cocina de Leslie. Take a look at our tempting feast!
Cocktails & Other Beverages:

Appetizers:

Main Dishes:

Side Dishes:

Desserts:

Join us around the family table for #SundaySupper 

TwitterBird on SundaySupper

  • Twitter how-to: Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag throughout the day on Twitter to see our recipes. To join the conversation anytime, simply use the #SundaySupper hashtag to share your favorite tips and recipes.
  • Pinterest: Check out our #SundaySupper Pinterest board for more recipes and photos.
  • Join: To join the Sunday Supper Movement, sign up by clicking here → Sunday Supper Movement.

Disclosure: California Endive Farms sent the endive for recipe testing. 

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