“Les petits farcis” are a typical vegetable recipe from Provence. I’ll share with you my family’s favorite with a vegetarian stuffing.
“Les petits farcis” [lit: the little stuffed ones] is a typical dish from Provence that you will love. There are hundreds of different stuffings for this very dish. In fact, almost every provençal family has its own recipe…
I’m going to share with you my family’s favorite one. It’s a very simple version, healthy, and vegetarian. Let’s get cooking!
To make it easier, choose round shaped vegetables.
For the pleasure of the eyes, take different color vegetables: tomatoes, round zucchini, peppers, white onions.
I discovered stuffed white onions in a restaurant. It is very sweet and soft. Totally the opposite of the image of the onion that stings the eyes.
During her French immersion stay in Provence at my house, Elizabeth cooked stuffed vegetables with me. In Provence, we also call them “petits farcis”.
We had a lot of fun. I’ll let you discover the recipe and pictures.
Step 1 – Prepare and Cook Your Vegetables
Wash the vegetables.
Put them in the steamer. Do you know this kitchen tool? It is very handy for softening vegetables. If you put just them in the oven, they may stay a bit hard/uncooked. And if they are cooked for too long in the oven, they can blacken.
Of course, depending on the vegetable, leave it more or less time in the steamer. For example, a tomato will soften faster than a zucchini. Leave the tomato for 5 minutes and the zucchini for 25 minutes.
In any case, keep an eye on it.
Without a steamer, you can do this in a pan with water.
Put water in a pan and you add the vegetables when it is boiling.
Then you need to check by sticking a knifepoint in the vegetables when the vegetable have the “good” texture (not too hard, not too soft).
Step 2 – Prepare Your Veggies For The Stuffing
Remove the skin from the tomatoes if it is too thick.
Cut the top off the vegetables.
Do the same for all the round vegetables.
If some are long such as zucchinis or peppers, cut them lengthwise.
Scoop out the vegetables and empty them.
Set the vegetables aside and keep the inside of the vegetables (this way, no waste)
provence vegetarian vegetable recipe 1
Step 3 – Stuff The Vegetables
Here are the ingredients for the classic stuffing:
Meat stuffing (a mix of ground veal and pork with spices)
Salt
Pepper
The emptied interior of the vegetable
Here are the ingredients for vegetarian stuffing:
Cheese (choice: goat, mozzarella)
Quinoa or couscous
Salt
Pepper
The emptied interior of the vegetable
Mix all ingredients with a blender.
Stuff the vegetables
Put in the oven for 30 minutes at 350°F.
Personally, I usually accompany my vegetables with rice.
But again everything is possible.
And now, it’s ready! Enjoy!
If you come to my place for an immersion stay in Provence, I will make you discover the different aspects of Provence: the landscapes and the scents, but also the culture, the gastronomy... while helping you to improve your French. See you soon in Provence!
Virginie In Provence