Henry Harris’s recipe for vegetarian endive au gratin

This is the best comfort dish on planet Earth. Cauliflower cheese held that title when I was a child, but I still remember the first time I ate this gratin, made by Simon Hopkinson at his restaurant Hilaire in London, and wanting to take it away and eat it in a quiet corner. Endive when braised well retains a gentle bitterness that contrasts beautifully with a cheese-heavy bechamel. This dish is traditionally made with comté and with each endive wrapped in a slice of cooked ham, but some dark, crisp-fried mushrooms and emmental serve very well as good, savoury vegetarian alternatives.

Endive au gratin

A chilled beaujolais and a salad are good friends to serve alongside.

Prep 10 min
Infuse 1 hr
Cook 1 hr, plus cooling
Serves 4

600ml milk
1 bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
2 parsley stalks (if you have them)
2 large flat mushrooms
120g unsalted butter
Salt and black pepper
4 heads endive
Nutmeg
50g plain flour
1 pinch cayenne pepper, to taste
200g emmental (suitable for vegetarians), grated

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Put the milk in a saucepan with the bay, peppercorns, sliced onion and parsley stalks, if using. Bring to a boil, then take off the heat and leave to infuse for an hour.

Finely slice the mushrooms. Melt a third of the butter in a shallow pan on a gentle heat, then add the mushrooms, season and cook until they release their juices. Turn up the heat just enough so the liquid simmers and evaporates, leaving you with just the mushrooms and melted butter. (Don’t be tempted to tip out those juices, because they are full of flavour and need returning to the mushrooms.) Keep cooking the mushrooms, stirring from time to time, until they brown and turn a little leathery, then transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb the excess butter.

Melt another third of the butter in a heavy, ovenproof pan and, when it’s just starting to foam, add the endives and season with salt, pepper and a good rasping of freshly grated nutmeg. Turn down the heat and cook gently, turning frequently, until nicely coloured all over. Cover loosely with foil and transfer to the oven for 40 minutes to an hour, until completely tender. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. (The outer leaves will probably need pulling off, because they’ll be quite brown and crisp by now.)

While the endive is roasting, make the bechamel. Reheat the infused milk. Melt the remaining third of the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring, for two minutes. Strain the hot milk into a jug, then whisk it into the flour mixture and keep whisking over a gentle heat for a good five minutes, until you have a thick, glossy sauce. Season with a pinch of cayenne, then stir in two-thirds of the cheese, until it melts. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Heat the grill. Scatter the fried mushrooms over the base of four individual gratin dishes (or one large one), and top with the braised endives. Spoon over the hot bechamel, scatter over the remaining grated cheese and grill until bubbling and golden. Serve immediately.

• Henry Harris is chef/co-owner of Bouchon Racine, London EC1. His book, The Racine Effect, is published by Quadrille at £40. To order a copy for £36, go to guardianbookshop.com