Belgian Endive Tarte Tatin

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Heat a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the butter and once melted, add the sugar and the vanilla. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts and turns amber in color.

Then lay the endive halves in the caramel cut side down, tightly packing them in so they all fit in the pan. Sprinkle on the lemon juice. Bake (covered) for 20 minutes, then flip each endive over and bake (uncovered) another 20 minutes, or until the endive is very tender. Remove the skillet from the oven.

Turn oven up to 400 F and butter a 9-inch ovenproof skillet. Decoratively arrange the endive in the bottom of the buttered skillet. Set aside for a moment.

Boil the caramel sauce that’s in the bottom of the first skillet for a few minutes until it’s reduced to about the thickness of cough syrup (the endive will have given off quite a bit of water). Taste and add additional sugar as desired, heating and stirring to fully dissolve any added sugar. Add 3/4 cup of the caramel sauce (reserve the extra sauce to serve with the tarte) to the pan with the endive, then place the trimmed puff pastry on top and tuck in any edges with a paring knife. Lightly brush the puff pastry with eggwash and cut 4 slits in the pastry so steam can vent.

Bake at 400 F until the pastry is puffed and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Then remove from the oven. Cool about 10 minutes before inverting the tarte onto a plate and serving. Serve with the reserved caramel sauce to drizzle on top, along with a dollop of whipped crème fraîche, whipped cream, or vanilla bean ice cream.