Ingredients
50 g butter, plus 15 g for egg topping
1 onion, finely chopped
3 large endives
Juice of 1 lemon
Freshly grated nutmeg
100 g smoked ham
200 ml double cream
6 eggs
SIDS SALT & PEPPER to taste
Directions
Melt 25g of butter in a deep frying pan and cook the onion over a medium/low heat until soft.
Cut the endives in sixths lengthways. Put them into a saucepan of boiling water with the lemon juice. Turn down the heat to simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Drain really well - you don't want excess water in the leaves.
Set the oven to 180°C and put 2 baking trays into it.
Add the endives, the remaining butter and a light grating of nutmeg to the onion and cook gently for about 10 minutes. If the mixture is a little watery then turn up the heat for a few minutes to drive the water off.
Pull or cut the ham into shreds and stir it in along with the cream. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into 6 small gratin dishes, curling the endive round the edge. Crack an egg into the centre of each. Dot the eggs with the rest of the butter, season with SIDS SALT & PEPPER to taste and put the gratin dishes on the baking sheets in the oven. Check the eggs after 12 minutes - the white should be just set and the yolk slightly runny. They may need up to 5 minutes more. Serve immediately.
