When Winter approaches in the Netherlands (Holland) we start eating richer dishes (to keep warm!) that we call stamppot. To stamp means mashing and so we mash together usually potatoes, some kind of meat (or keep that on the side) and a vegetable. The dish I am making used to be a stamppot, but my mother turned it into an oven dish called Andijvie schotel.
In Holland we make this dish with endive, something I have not found yet here in the US, but as I found out via this website called The Cook’s Thesaurus there is a French version called Escarole and as I found out it has very similar texture and taste.
Escarole
For my Escarole dish you cut up the endive/escarole/chicory into 1 cm (1/4 inch) strips and wash well. Cook in boiling water (a little water on the bottom of the pan) for just a few minutes to wilt! Drain all water and put the endive in an oven dish and sprinkle a little nutmeg on top.
Before you start, peel some potatoes (enough to cover your oven dish) and start boiling them, by the time your endive and/or meat are ready, they’ll be ready to get mashed.
Then bake some minced beef with beef spices of your liking, make sure it ends as very small cooked pieces. Place the meat on top of the endives in your oven dish, and then cover it with your home-made mashed potatoes topped with bread crumbs and little pieces of butter.
Bake in a 350 (180C) oven for about 30 minutes (to get the top golden brown I turn off the oven after 30 minutes and turn on the broiler for just a few minutes).
I love it when I can make a whole meal in one dish! This time I used a small (just for two) oven dish, but when you make a huge batch, you’ll enjoy it several days!
Enjoy! Eet smakelijk!
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Looks yummy! I’ll do my best to make it. : )