Dutch Inspirations!

All of a sudden I have fallen in love with one of the most hated vegetables in the country- Belgian endive! Long gone are the days when I ignored the vegetable. I can no longer leave the market without at least a kilo of these luscious heads of ‘white gold’ and I only have one person to thank- Yolanda van der Jagt!

Yolanda’s book, Lekker Hollands, has become one of my favorite cookbooks as far as the Dutch kitchen is concerned. When I first opened the book, I was quite surprised to see that the foreword was written by Jamie Oliver. Now that alone was already a good sign! Yolanda and Jamie worked together at the River Café in London and her innovative dishes are reminiscent of Jamie’s style. Like Jamie, she has a keen sense for interesting flavor combinations and just reading her recipes makes you want to run into the kitchen- fast! I love the fact that she is quite the vegetable fan. Her book totally opened up my eyes to the possibilities of doing different things with vegetables such as:

- celeriac: had some for lunch today, julienned, with apple and raisins, also love it in my mashed potatoes.

- parsnips: I never thought of making a traditional Dutch hutspot with anything but boiled carrots and potatoes until Yolanda came along and showed me how to make a roasted hutspot- with parsnips ( the original veggie used in the dish) carrots and white bean mash.

- kale: deliciously different as a crostini topping!

- leeks: wrapped in bacon, covered in tomato sauce, sprinkled with thyme and baked in the oven.

- red peppers: caramelized and served with... vanilla ice cream, for dessert!

- and of course, Belgian endive. Oh how delicious it is grilled and served with a vinaigrette of shallots, bacon and balsamic vinegar!

Last weekend I decided to turn to Yolanda once again for a little inspiration and served endive in a savory tart. First I sautéed the endive in a little butter and also did the same with some red onions. Then it was just a matter of sticking a few sheets of puff pastry together (shop- bought), throwing the veggies on top and scattering bits of chèvre and bacon here and there. Couldn’t have been any easier! I served the tart with a salad of lamb’s lettuce and a bottle of Pouilly Fumé. It was SO, SO good!

PS: Yolanda's book is only available in Dutch. Yolanda, the world needs a translation! ;)

Here's Yolandas recipe (adapted by me):

Endive Tart with Goat Cheese
Serves 2-3

-6 squares of puff pastry (about 45g per square), or a piece of about 30 x 20cm
-2 tbsps butter
-5 red onions, halved and thinly sliced
-500g Belgian endive, 1 cm cut off of the ends, halved and then sliced thinly
-1 tbsp dried thyme
-100g chvre (soft goat cheese)
-4 strips of bacon
-1 beaten egg
-freshly ground pepper

• Preheat oven to 210C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Put the puff pastry on the tray and leave it to defrost at room temperature.
• Melt 1 tbsp of the butter, add the onions and let them cook gently for about 20 minutes.
• Melt the other tbsp of butter in another pan and cook the endive gently for about 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Press the edges of the puff pastry together to form a rectangular sheet. Layer the veggies over the pastry leaving an edge of about 2cm.
• Scatter the thyme, cheese and bacon over the tart, brush the edges with the egg and bake it for 20- 25 minutes until golden brown.