There, with the big messy polemic out of the way, let’s talk about endive.

The Wednesday Chef made an awesome looking endive gratin from the New York Times. I wanted to make it, too, but by the time I got all the ingredients home, I realized that endive gratin alone didn’t really sound like dinner, although with some crusty bread…but anyway, I decided to convert it into creamy endive pasta sauce.

Using a recipe from Biba Caggiano’s Italy al Dente as a guide, here’s what I did. I’ll put it in gossip column form because it’s really simple. (The original recipe called for Worcestershire sauce, but we didn’t have any, so I substituted fish sauce.)

Heat several tablespoons of **olive oil** in a large saute pan. Add 3/4 pound shredded **belgian endive**. Cook until wilted. Add 2 ounces diced **black forest ham** and cook a couple more minutes. Add 1/2 cup **white wine** and 2 teaspoons **fish sauce**. Add 1/3 cup **heavy cream** and 1 cup **low-sodium chicken broth**. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer until reduced to pasta-coating consistency, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon **butter**, 1/4 cup grated **Parmigiano-Reggiano**, and salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, boil 1 pound **penne rigate** in salted water until al dente. Drain and add to the sauce, cooking them together in the saute pan until the pasta is well coated. Serve with additional grated Parmesan.

Iris absolutely loved this. She ate all the noodles and scraped her bowl to get all the endive and ham. Maybe next time I’ll make the actual gratin.