"Bittersweet Symphony" - we know this song from the band The Verve. But this Belgian endive with roasted, caramelized figs is a symphony of bitter and sweet in its own right. The bitter endive is deliciously tender and contrasts beautifully with the sweet, caramelized figs. The chopped pistachios add a crunchy bite, while the red onion rounds everything off with a deep, earthy flavor.

Perfect as a starter at a dinner party, or as a light main course on a fall afternoon - when fresh figs are at their best. The dish comes together quickly, requires only a handful of ingredients, and is served at room temperature, so you can easily prepare it ahead of time.

How to make Belgian endive with caramelized figs

This chicory salad with lukewarm roasted fresh figs is not only tasty, but also very quick to prepare. You don't need more than 20 minutes.

We preheat the oven to 200°C and prepare a baking tray with baking paper. We will first roast and caramelize the fresh figs and onions in a few minutes time.

First we remove the skin from the onion, halve it and cut it into rings. We already put the onions stripes on the baking tray.

Then we halve the fresh figs. And we also cut them into slices of about half to one centimeter. They then go on the baking tray with the onions. We mix both sometimes.

Next we sprinkle the onion and figs with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Mix everything together well.

Then the mixture is ready to go in the oven for ten minutes. The sugar will now caramelize, just like the onion. This creates a delicious sweet and sour flavor combination with the balsamic vinegar and the figs.

In the meantime, we coarsely chop the pistachios. After ten minutes they go into the oven for about five minutes, that are sweet and tender.

Finally, we also finely chop the chicory. To do this we cut away the hard stump. Then we halve the chicory lengthwise. Finally, we cut the chicory into thin rings.

When the roasted and caramelized figs are ready, we mix them with the chicory. This salad is lukewarm at its best: the fresh and crispy chicory accompanied by the sour-sweet lukewarm caramelized figs and onion.

The Story of Belgian Endive

Chicory, better known as Belgian endive in the United States, is one of Belgium's proudest culinary treasures - so much so that the Dutch name "witloof" literally means "white leaf." It was around 1830 when a farmer in the surroundings of Brussels had stored chicory roots for coffee in a dark cellar. But the roots had produced white shoots in the dark. They tasted delicious! Farmers started to cultivate them, and restaurants began serving them as a side. People loved them, and so the white Belgian endives started to conquer the culinary world.

How is Belgian endive grown?

What makes this vegetable so special is the way it's grown: the roots are first cultivated in the field, then harvested and forced to sprout a second time in complete darkness. It's this darkness that gives the leaves their ivory-white color, their delicate, tightly packed shape, and their mild flavor. Traditionally, field-grown chicory was only available in autumn. Thanks to modern hydroponic growing - where the roots sprout in a controlled water environment - Belgian endive is now available fresh all year round. But handle it carefully: if you leave the heads in the light for a few days, they might start turning green and develop a more bitter taste.

Culinary use of Belgian endive

Belgian endive is remarkably versatile. Enjoy it raw in salads for a refreshing crunch, braised or caramelized in the oven for a deeper, nuttier flavor, or wrapped in ham and covered with cheese sauce for the classic Flemish dish "witloof met ham en kaas". When shopping, look for firm, pale heads with tightly closed tips - that's the sign of a fresh, tender chicon.

Read more about Belgian endives in the following articles:

More surprising.endives

Belgian endives, or chicory is by far the favorite lettuce of the whole family. My father used to grow them in a dark cellar. During autumn, we ate them in every possible way. So no surprise that we have some more surprising.endives here:

More surprising.figs

Sweet figs are one of the most delicious autumn fruits. And nowadays they are readily available in autumn. So make sure to buy some more to make some additional recipes:

If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.