The last Labour Day weekend, some friends came visiting for outings into the forest so I didn't have much time to prepare - to solve the problem, I opted for a simple menu that can be prepared ahead of time and the final preparation was just "heating up"...
Smoked Saucise de Morteau with butter-infused potato mash. Simple and flavourful.
Lamb tajine served with couscous and a ratatouile.
To make the ratatouile:
1 kg of ripe tomatoes, blanched and skin removed
2 medium-sized courgettes (or called zucchini in Italian)
1 large aubergine
2 large onions
3 cloves of garlic
a small teaspoon of Herbes de Provence
1/2 cup of passata (Italian tomato purée)
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1 teaspoon of paprika powder
1/2 dried piment d’Espelette (optional)
1 sprig of fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Salt to taste
Cube the courgettes and aubergines. Pan fry them with olive oil. Drain the cooking liquid by leaving the cooked vegetables on a chinois over a large bowl.
Finely slice the onions and fry them with olive oil until they start to soften and turns fragrant. Drain and set aside.
Quarter the tomatoes and cooked them in a separate pan with a tablespoon of brown sugar and 1/2 a cup of good olive oil. At this point, for flavour, you may add a dried basil leaf and the 3 cloves of garlic, sliced. Set aside.
Mix all the cooked ingredients in a large casserole. Add the wine, passata and the other ingredients. Cooked until the vegetabes are tender. Add the basil at last. This mixture goes well with many braised dishes such as a Tajine (above). They can be stored in an airtight glass jar in the fridge for up to 3 months.
A simple salade with wedges of Comte cheese.
perennial favourite: tiramisu
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