Chicory casserole with minced meat

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 chicory
• 50 g bacon cubes
• 500 g minced meat
• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• 5 tbsp tomato sauce or ketchup
• 1 pinch(s) nutmeg
• 100 g cheese, grated
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp butter
• Butter for the mold

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

Clean the chicory, halve it, remove the stalks, and remove the leaves individually, but do not chop them. Blanch the leaves in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes, drain well, and let them drain slightly. Fry the diced bacon in a hot pan. Add the peeled, diced onion and sauté until golden brown. Remove the bacon and onions from the pan. In the same pan, fry the minced meat until crumbly, season with salt and pepper, and press in the garlic clove. Add the tomato sauce or ketchup and mix. Add the onion and bacon mixture and stir in. Grease a baking dish with a little butter. Now add layers of chicory leaves and minced meat, season each layer of chicory leaves with nutmeg, add the minced meat, sprinkle with some grated cheese, then more chicory leaves with nutmeg, minced meat with cheese, and so on. The last layer consists of chicory leaves with nutmeg. Sprinkle some grated cheese over the top and scatter the butter in small pieces. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (convection oven) for about 15-20 minutes. The casserole tastes delicious, and the chicory is no longer bitter at all. Served with a green salad as a side dish, it’s a great low-carb dish. If low-carb isn’t an option, you can serve it with baguette, croquettes, pasta, etc.