The five emblematic recipes of Nice cuisine
Locations-06 presents to you today the five emblematic recipes of Nice cuisine.
But this list is not exhaustive.
We could have added troucha, Niçoise salad, bagna cauda, gnocchi, merda de can, etc. The list is endless, to the delight of gourmets and gourmands, … which very often are the same.
Pissaladière, Nice gastronomy - Recipe by Alex Benvenutto
List of ingredients for the pissaladière recipe
- 400 grams of bread dough.
- 2,5 kgs onions.
- 4 cloves of garlic.
- A bouquet garni (1/2 bay leaf, 1 sprig of savory, 1 sprig of oregano).
- 1 dozen salted anchovy fillets, desalted.
- 2 dozen small black olives from Nice.
- 10 cl olive oil
Make an oil paste:
350g flour, 15 tablespoons of olive oil, 100ml of water, 1 pinch of salt.
Preparation of the pissaladière
Cut the onions into half rings, brown them in olive oil with thyme, rosemary, pepper and 1 clove.
Before they brown, add 2 glasses of lukewarm water.
Leave to cook until the water has completely evaporated.
Remove the branches of thyme and rosemary + clove.
Off the heat, mix 2 hazelnuts of pissalat.
Preparation of oil paste:
Spread the dough and place the onions in an even layer.
Place Nice olives and anchovy fillets on top
Place in the oven at 200° for 30 minutes, keeping an eye on it.
Nice stuffed meats, Nice cuisine - recipe from Editions Gourmandes
List of ingredients for the Niçois stuffed vegetables recipe
For the zucchini, tomatoes and onions
It is important to choose small vegetables
- 12 small round zucchini from Nice (+ a small zucchini for stuffing)
- 8 white onions
- 12 small tomatoes
- 1 large white oion for the stuffing
- 200 g of ground beef
- 200 g of ground veal (sautéed veal quality)
- 200 g of white ham
- 2 cloves garlic
- 80 g bread
- a bowl of milk
- 100 g of mountain cow’s milk cheese or parmesan
- 2 eggs
- breadcrumbs
- Olive oil from Nice
- a sprig of thyme
- a bay leaf
- a dozen basil leaves
- half a bunch of parsley
- coarse salt, salt, pepper
Preparation of Nice stuffed vegetables
Preparation of vegetables: zucchini, onions, tomatoes
Stuffed tomatoes
Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, then cut them in half crosswise.
Using a small spoon, carefully scoop them out.
Reserve the removed flesh for the stuffing.
Place the half tomatoes in a previously oiled dish then salt them.
Stuffed onions
Peel the onions, remove the germ using the tip of a paring knife.
Heat a large pot of salted water and blanch the onions for 10 to 15 minutes. They must be cooked “al dente”.
Immerse them in a bowl of iced water to cool them, then drain them.
Remove the successive onion shells by gently pressing with your thumb on the top of the onion to release the different interior layers.
Reserve the least usable parts for stuffing: the outer layers, and the central parts that are too small to stuff.
We normally collect at least 3 shells per onion, of different sizes.
Hulls that are “too large” can be reduced by making a cut and overlapping the two ends thus obtained.
Arrange the onions in a previously oiled gratin dish.
Stuffed zuchini
Rinse the zucchini, cut their stems flush, then cut them in half (horizontally) making sure to obtain two equal parts.
Blanch the zucchini in the pan of salted water already used for the onions, for 10 to 15 minutes.
The zucchini must be tender so that you can scoop them out, without being overcooked.
Immerse them in a bowl of iced water to cool them quickly and thus preserve their beautiful green color, then drain them.
Using a small spoon, carefully scoop them out.
Reserve the removed flesh for the stuffing.
Arrange the zucchini gradually in a previously oiled gratin dish.
Preparing the stuffing
Trim the bread so that only the crumb is left and soak it in a bowl of cold milk.
Chop meats and ham (or ask the butcher to do it).
Peel a large white onion then finely chop it.
Sweat the chopped onion in a little olive oil over low heat, without browning it, for around ten minutes.
Add the minced meats (beef and veal), a crushed garlic clove, the thyme and bay leaf and cook over high heat for 5 minutes, while stirring.
Salt and pepper.
Chop the flesh of the vegetables with a knife and add it to the meat.
Leave to cook for around 20 minutes over low heat.
Let cool.
Chop the parsley and the basil, crush the garlic, grate the parmesan.
Squeeze the bread soaked in milk and add it to the cooled mixture of ground meats and vegetables.
Pass everything through a mincer again to obtain a fine texture.
Add the chopped parsley, chopped basil, crushed garlic, grated parmesan, eggs and mix well.
Adjust seasoning
Finishing and cooking Niçois stuffings
Preheat the oven to 180° (thermostat 6).
Fill the vegetables with stuffing, using a piping bag (it’s practical and quick), or a small spoon if you prefer.
Sprinkle each stuffing with breadcrumbs then drizzle with olive oil.
Bake for an hour.
Monitor the cooking carefully. Pour a little water into the bottom of the dishes if necessary and sprinkle the stuffing regularly with the cooking juices.
Zucchini flower fritters, a Niçoise specialty - Recipe from cuisineniçoise.fr
List of ingredients for the zucchini fritters recipe
- 125 gr of sifted flour type 00
- 125 gr of cornstarch
- very cold sparkling water
- olive or peanut oil for frying
Preparing zucchini fritters
Mix the flour, cornstarch, sift, add the water with a whisk to obtain a smooth paste a little thicker than pancake batter. Leave to rest for half an hour in the cold, do not add salt.
Gently clean the zucchini flowers, remove the central pistil (and the small ants that may be hiding there).
A family secret: slip a basil leaf into the zucchini flower.
When serving:
Heat a frying bath to 170° (very important).
Dip the flowers delicately in the batter, let them drain before plunging them into the frying.
Fry when ready to serve, just brown, drain on absorbent paper, salt.
Chard pie, Nice dessert - recipe from nice.fr
List of ingredients for the chard pie recipe for 8 people
For the dough
- 500 g flour
- 250 g butter
- 200 g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch of salt
- water(if necessary)
For garnish
- 2 kg of finely ribbed chard leaves (preferably blond chard)
- 50 g grated dry mountain cow’s milk cheese (Sbrinz, Parmesan or Parmigiano)
- 300 g pippin apples (approximately 2 apples)
- 30 g brown raisins, 30 g blond raisins (soaked in rum (150 ml)
- 100 g of pine nuts
- 50 ml of local marc brandy (1/2 glass)
- 150 g caster sugar or brown sugar
- 30 ml olive oil (1 table spoon)
- 30 ml anise (1 tablespoon)
- 1 pinch of pepper, 1 pinch of salt
- icing sugar
Preparing the dough
On a work surface, pour the flour, make a well in it, add the eggs, softened butter, sugar and salt.
Mix the ingredients with your fingers until you obtain a homogeneous paste (add a few drops of water if necessary) without working it too much. Let it rest while preparing the filling.
Preparation of the garnish: remove the ribs (for another use) to retain only the green of the chard. Slice the leaves into strips, wash them several times in cold water, until the water is no longer tinged with green (in fact, this rinsing helps remove the bitterness of the chard). Drain the chiffonade by pressing it between your hands. Chop with a knife.
Mix with the apples cut into small cubes, the sugar, orange blossom water, add macerated grapes, pine nuts.
Cooking: turn on the bottom of the oven 200° (6)
Roll out the dough into two discs with a rolling pin on a lightly floured board, as thin as possible.
Place a piece of dough on the mold, prick the bottom with a fork.
Garnish with stuffing and cover with the second piece of dough. Prick with a fork, sealing the edges well. Add raw pine nuts to the dough to decorate
Bake on the oven floor at first then halfway up afterwards for a total of around 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, then turn out onto a rack to keep it crunchy.
Sweeten with a veil of icing sugar.
Niçoise stew - recipe from Mme Vacca
List of ingredients for the Niçoise stew recipe (for 8 people)
- 1 kg of beef (rib steak)
- 500 g of veal (uncovered)
- 500 g pork meat (loin)
- 250 g of petit salé
- 1.5 kg of red tomatoes, but not too soft
- 2 large onions
- 5 cloves garlic
- 150 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 3 large carrots (approximately 200 g)
- 20 cl olive oil
- 1/2 liter red wine
- 20 cl cognac
- a bouquet garni
- salt and pepper
Preparing the Niçoise stew
Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in lukewarm water for 2 hours.
Finely chop the onions and previously peeled tomatoes, taking care to empty them of their pulp and seeds (to peel them more easily, cut them with a knife at the top so as to represent a cross, and put them in boiling water 2 minutes).
Cut the beef, veal and pork into pieces of approximately the same size. Cut the salted pork into thirds. Peel the carrots and cut them into large slices.
In a casserole dish or large saucepan, pour the oil and brown the onions, garlic cloves, meats and petit salé for 15 minutes.
Add the porcini mushrooms (without the water) and the crushed tomatoes. Leave to cook for 30 minutes.
To finish
Add the wine and bouquet garni and simmer for 1 hour. Add the carrots and cognac. Leave to simmer over very low heat for 3 hours (monitor the cooking from time to time).
