Recipes for the perfect Summer Lunch at Le Farmhouse
- David Dunleavy
- Jan 4, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 6, 2024
A light lunch for a warm and sunny Provençal day: Summer zucchini and ricotta salad, French beans and snow peas salad with hazelnut and orange; a show-stopping Eggplant tarte tatin.
The months of July and August in the Luberon are for early mornings at the market, light lunches in the shade during the heat of the day, and a lazy afternoon by the pool or in the hammock. Here are a few of our go-to recipes at Le Farmhouse.
TIP: on a warm day, a lunch of cold or room temperature salads and tarts is a perfect pairing. Chilled rosé helps, too.
Eggplant Tarte Tatin
Serves 4-6
Many of our favorite recipes are inspired from food that we have eaten in restaurants, or a dish that a friend once served. We add them to our repertoire both because we loved them so much, but also because food triggers such wonderful memories of moments shared with friends and family. This eggplant tarte was first introduced to us by our friend Anne-Claire during a summer lunch at her family’s property in the south of France. You can attempt to make all of the ingredients from scratch, but we prefer to keep ready-made pastry and jarred eggplant stew on hand so that we can pull this dish together quickly when we find locally-grown eggplants in the market.
Ingredients
1 ready-made puff pastry sheet (pate feuilletée)
3-4 eggplants
1.5 -2 cups riste d’aubergines (a classic provençal eggplant, onion and tomato stew, this is similar to a ratatouille which could be used as a substitute).
Pine nuts
Brown sugar (cassonade or unrefined brown sugar)
Fresh rosemary
1 egg
Salt & pepper
Preparation
Cut off the stem of the eggplants and slice into 1/2 Inch slices (lengthwise)
Place the eggplant on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly brush the top of the eggplant with olive oil. Add a few pinches of sea salt.
Cook at 180C (350F) for approximately 30 minutes, or until the eggplant is and golden and starts to caramelise a little bit. Remove and let stand until cool to the touch.
In a tart or quick pan (ideally with a removable bottom), cut out parchment paper to fit neatly inside the pan. Lightly brush the parchment with olive oil.
Sprinkled a handful of pine nuts on the bottom of the pan as well as chopped rosemary (2-3 sprigs).
Lightly sprinkle 2 tbsp of cassonade (brown sugar) on the pan (this will caramelise while cooking).
Gently layer the eggplant in a flower pattern with the brown side of the eggplant down.
Spoon and spread the eggplant mixture on top of the eggplant (leaving about an inch uncovered around the edge of the pan. You do not want this very thick.
Cover with the puff pastry and cut or fold any excess on the inside of the pan.
Make a simple egg wash (1 egg whisked with a splash of water) and brush the egg wash onto the pastry shell. Make a few small incisions to release the steam while baking, and cook at 180C (350F) until crust is golden brown (approximately 25-30 minutes).
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before flipping onto a serving plate. Carefully remove the pan and the parchment paper to reveal the beautiful caramelised eggplant tarte.
This can be served immediately or at room temperature.
Summer Zucchini and Ricotta Salad
Serves 6
This is a simple-to-make summer appetizer or side-dish that can be made in advance and assembled right before serving. It is best prepared with a mandoline to have paper-thin ribbons of zucchini and squash. We had a version of this at La Gaudina (@lagaudinaluberon) in Goult and it inspired us to recreate our own version at home.
Ingredients
2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 lemon
Fresh ricotta cheese (250g / 8 oz)
Toasted hazelnuts, skins removed (1 cup)
Piment d’Espelette (Espelette pepper), or Aleppo Pepper
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Preparation
Add the zest of one lemon to the ricotta with a pinch of sea salt for taste. Set aside in the refrigerator.
After removing the ends, carefully slice long, thin ribbons of zucchini and yellow squash with a mandoline. If you do not have a mandoline, try with a vegetable peeler. Place in a container with the juice of one lemon and enough cold water to coat. Set aside in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble.
Toast a handful of hazelnuts in the oven for about 10 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, rub them in a clean towel to remove most of the skin. Use a meat mallet or rolling pin to gentle break the hazelnuts into halves.
Place a small handful of green zucchini and yellow squash onto a plate (dripping off any excess water). Place a heaping spoonful of the lemon-ricotta mixture on top of the zucchini. Drizzle olive oil over the salad, and finish by topping with the toasted hazelnuts and a sprinkle of espelette pepper. You could also try with Aleppo pepper or a few red chili flakes.
Finish with a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground pepper.
French beans and snap peas with hazelnut and orange
Serves 6
This is a recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi (@ottolenghi), an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur and food writer. His recipes are often vegetarian-friendly and involve delicious, beautiful combinations. As soon as green beans appear in the markets in summer, we make this salad frequently, changing the dressing or nuts according to what we have on hand.
Ingredients
400 g Green beans, ends cut off
400 g Mangetout (snap peas), strings removed
Green or red lettuce, rinsed
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp walnut oil or hazelnut oil
Sherry vinegar (or cider vinegar)
1 orange
1 garlic clove (fresh garlic preferred)
1 cup Toasted hazelnuts (or toasted almonds)
Salt and pepper
Preparation
Toast one cup of hazelnuts in the oven for about 10 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, rub them in a clean towel to remove most of the skin. Use a meat mallet or rolling pin to gentle break the hazelnuts into halves.
Blanch the snap peas in unsalted boiling water for 1 minute. Transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Blanch the green beans in the same water for about 4 minutes and transfer to the ice bath to stop the cooking. You do not want to overcook the beans or peas, so it’s always a good idea to test one or two. Remove from the ice bath, spin dry and store in a container in the refrigerator until about 30 minutes before assembling (I prefer them at room temperature).
Rinse and wash one head of green or red-leaf lettuce (in France we love to use feuille de chêne, but most fresh lettuce will do).
In a large mixing bowl, add the olive oil and hazelnut oil, zest from one orange, juice from half an orange, and one crushed garlic clove. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and 1 tbsp of sherry vinegar and whisk together. I usually taste here and will add more vinegar if the dressing is still to sweet from the pressed orange juice.
Just before service, add the salad, green beans, snap peas and hazelnuts and toss.
