This collection features 19 recipes, with seasonal ingredients such as artichokes, asparagus, lamb, and strawberries. We hope these recipes inspire you to curate menus for dinner parties, luncheons, cocktail parties, and family meals.
This summer when we were in Provence visiting family and pre-planning for our group tour, I noticed a developing trend for appetizers. The traditional black olive tapenade is of course always present. However, there is a movement to use alternative ingredients to create hummus-like dips, I call these spreads ades.
Pick a commonly used ingredient like chickpeas, roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes or even basil; make it spreadable, then add the suffix ade and voila, you have a fabulous finger food to serve at your next apéro. The three recipes below for poischichade (hummus without tahini), tomatade (sun-dried tomatoes), and poivronade (with fire-roasted red peppers) are my own inventions.
These are fantastic easy-to-make appetizers that you can make any time of the year. Alternatively, visit Remember Provence for their incredible line of pre-made, authentic dips direct from Provence.
Poischichade, Poivronade, Tomatade Appetizers from Provence
Chef François de Mélogue
Poischichade: A chickpea spread very similar to hummus made without tahini and flavored a healthy spoonful of cumin. Poivronade: A fire-roasted, sweet pepper dip that is good on everything from tartines to roasted cauliflower to hamburgers. Tomatade: A delicious spread made from sun-dried tomatoes that tastes great on just about everything.
2red bell peppersburn the skin off over a gas flame
1/2sweet onionchopped super fine
1garlic clovemashed
2tbspextra virgin olive oil
1/2tspapple cider vinegar
4basil leaves
Tomatade
112oz (340g) jarsun-dried tomatoes in oildrain and save the oil
1garlic clovechopped fine
4basil leaves
Instructions
Poischichade
The prep time for this chickpea dip is ONE (1) minute. Mix everything in the bowl of your food processor and coarsely puree. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Poivronade
Burn the skins off the red peppers and wipe the charred skin away.
Chop the pepper super fine and saute with the chopped onion, garlic, and olive oil. Cook for five minutes, or until tender.
Put everything into the bowl of your food processor along with the vinegar and basil. Season with salt and pepper then puree. I like to leave a little chunky, but the final texture is your choice.
Tomatade
OK, maybe the easiest recipe of all time. Mix everything together in a food processor and coarsely puree. Add a touch of the oil that the tomatoes came packed in. Enjoy!
Keyword Appetizer, Chickpeas, Red Peppers, Sun-dried Tomatoes
Provencal Olive Tapenades – Gilles a.k.a the Provence Gourmet shares his recipe for two simple tapenades using green and black olives. If you are interested in cooking classes and learning some traditional Provencal meals please contact Gilles.
Green Olive Tapenade – another recipe from the Provence Gourmet for a typical Provencal green olive tapenade to serve with aperitifs or to flavour the main dish.
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François de Mélogue grew up in a very French household in Chicago. His earliest attempts at cookery began with the filleting of his sister’s goldfish at age two and a braised rabbit dish made with his pet rabbits by age seven. He eventually stopped cooking his pets and went to the highly esteemed New England Culinary Institute, where he graduated top of his class in 1985.
Chef François has over 30 years of cross-cultural culinary experience and brings an impressive culinary history and a unique Mediterranean cooking style. After graduating top of his class from the notable New England Culinary Institute, Chef François began his career in a number of highly acclaimed kitchens across the country, including Chef Louis Szathmary’s restaurant The Bakery in Chicago, Old Drovers Inn, a Relais and Chateaux property in New York and Joel Robuchon Gastronomie restaurant in Paris, before opening award-winning restaurant Pili Pili in his hometown of Chicago, rated in the Top Ten new restaurants in the World by Food and Wine magazine in 2003.
Chef François resides in St Albans, Vermont with his wife Lisa and ten-year-old son Beaumont, who has proclaimed himself the family saucier. Chef François' latest publication French Cooking for Beginners: 75+ Classic Recipes to Cook Like a Parisian takes you on a culinary journey well beyond the streets of Paris. Francois is a professional photographer specializing in food/product photography, real estate photography and shooting rural landscapes of Vermont and France. Explore his work on https://www.francoisdemelogue.com/.
Take a look at his website Simple French Cooking filled with delicious recipes and beautiful photos. Also follow Francois on Medium for more tempting dishes Pistou and Pastis.
Bonjour! I made the Tomatade recipe for my Provence inspired birthday lunch and everyone RAVED about it! I made a triple batch and put the excess in small jars for people to take home afterwards. They have loved it so much they have asked for the receipe… Sharon x
Hello Sharon, I’m glad that the recipe not only worked out, but it was also so popular with your guests. Great idea for the little jars to give away at the end. Thank you for sharing!
Sharon – I am beyond honored. I often serve these with socca and have given away jars of socca batter along with the “ades”. You made my day – many thanks. Francois
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5 Comments
Bonjour! I made the Tomatade recipe for my Provence inspired birthday lunch and everyone RAVED about it! I made a triple batch and put the excess in small jars for people to take home afterwards. They have loved it so much they have asked for the receipe… Sharon x
Hello Sharon, I’m glad that the recipe not only worked out, but it was also so popular with your guests. Great idea for the little jars to give away at the end. Thank you for sharing!
Sharon – I am beyond honored. I often serve these with socca and have given away jars of socca batter along with the “ades”. You made my day – many thanks. Francois
Total hit!
Thank you! Enjoy the #TastesofProvence