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For each season, I'll offer a traditional Provençal menu with recipes for trying in your kitchen. Bookmark this page and return often to find seasonal menus packed with ideas for treating the family, entertaining ideas for adding Provençal punch to a dinner for friends, and simple ideas for lifting popular ingredients to new heights. Enjoy the recipes below! |
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| Most Sundays I take my guests for a long, French, Sunday lunch—the meal of the week—to the home of friends in the backcountry up through the Gorges du Loup. Annick and Claude live in a converted bergerie (sheepfold) with breath-taking views over the mountains. Annick is a wonderful, natural Provençal cook and Claude is an artist who has exhibited locally and in America. They are perfect hosts. After a pastis or vin d'orange on the terrace, we retreat to the shady arbor. The table is invitingly set with rustic local pottery and decorated with vegetables and fruits from their garden. Wild flowers in vases and buckets surround the table. |
We often begin lunch with little rolls of zucchini slices stuffed with cheese. Cheese in Provence is usually goat's milk, sometimes sheep's milk, but rarely cow's milk. Annick makes this recipe with a mixture of brousse (sheep's milk cheese) and chevre (goat cheese); however, the chevre is fine alone. |  |
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5-6 medium zucchini 6 ounces fresh goat cheese 1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped |
3-4 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (e.g., parsley, chives, chervil, and tarragon) 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil |
| Peel the zucchini with a sharp knife or mandolin, leaving a striped pattern. Cut thin slices lengthwise, discarding the rounded side pieces. Blanch the slices in boiling water for 1 minute, a few at a time. Using tongs, immediately remove the slices and place them in a bowl of cold water. After 2 minutes, lift them gently out of the water and blot each slice dry with a paper towel or a clean dish cloth.
Mash the cheese in a bowl. Blend in the chopped garlic and fresh herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. |
Place a generous teaspoon of the cheese filling on a zucchini slice and roll up. Arrange the rolls on a lightly oiled serving dish. Generously drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbes de Provence.
The rolls taste best if left several hours or overnight to allow the flavors to develop. Serve with a salad of mixed baby greens tossed in vinaigrette. Decorate with zucchini blossoms (fleurs de courgette). Yield approximately 24 rolls. |