Gavroche at your gaff
As Michel Roux Jr prepares to shut the doors of his two Michelinstarred restaurant, the celebrated chef shows how you can master classic French cooking chez vous.
Tagliolini with seafood
“I love seafood, and pasta and shellfish are always a great combination,” says Roux.
“Keep this simple with mussels and clams, or if you want to go to town, use other shellfish, such as razor clams or cockles, when they’re in season. The fennel seeds and pastis bring that lovely aniseed flavour that works so well with seafood.”
Serves 2. Ingredients: 400g clams; 500g mussels; 2tbsp olive oil; 1 shallot, chopped; 1tsp fennel seeds; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 50ml pastis; 150g shelled raw prawns; 4tbsp crème fraîche; 300g fresh tagliolini or 180g dried tagliolini or tagliatelle; handful of herbs (parsley, chives, chervil), finely chopped; juice of 1 lemon; salt and black pepper.
Wash the clams and mussels well in cold water and discard any that are broken or don’t close when tapped. Remove any beards from the mussels.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the shallot, fennel seeds and garlic and sweat until they start to colour.
Add the clams, then the mussels. Pour in the pastis, cover the pan and cook for five to seven minutes until all the shells have opened. Take care not to overcook the shellfish.
Tip everything into a colander which is placed over a bowl, then pass the cooking liquid through a fine sieve or a strainer lined with muslin.
Pick the flesh from the mussels and clams, leaving a few in the shell to use as a garnish.
Tip the cooking liquor back into the pan, bring it to the boil and boil for five minutes. Add the prawns and crème fraîche, then, when the prawns have turned pink, add the picked mussels and clams.
Bring a pan of water to the boil and add two tablespoons of salt. Cook the pasta until al dente, then drain. Add the drained pasta to the pan of shellfish and stir well. Add the chopped herbs and garnish with some mussels and clams in shells.
Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper, then serve at once.
Vegetable tart tatin
“Here we have a great French classic made into a vegetarian treat,” says Roux.
“I’ve suggested a selection of vegetables, but you can vary them according to the season and spice them up with more chilli if you like a bit of heat.
“Delicious as a main meal or as an accompaniment, this can be made in individual portions as well as a large tart.
It’s fine to use shop-bought puff pastry – I do!”
Serves 4. Ingredients: 3 small heads of red chicory; 3 small heads of yellow chicory; 200g slender carrots, halved lengthways; 300g kohlrabi, cut into batons; 100g cauliflower florets or sprouting broccoli, halved; 1 large onion, cut into wedges;
2tbsp olive oil; 2tbsp butter; 2tbsp caster sugar; 1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced; leaves from one thyme sprig; 350g puff pastry; flour, for dusting; salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7. Cut the heads of chicory in half (or if they are large, into quarters) and put them in a bowl with the other vegetables.
Add the olive oil and toss, then season with salt and black pepper.
Spread the vegetables over a baking tray and roast them in the oven for eight to 10 minutes.
The vegetables should be partly cooked and have a little colour.
Melt the butter in a large (28cm) ovenproof frying pan, then sprinkle over the sugar.
Place the cooked vegetables, sliced chilli and thyme on top, making sure to pack the vegetables tightly.
Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface to around three millimetres thick.
Place the pastry over the vegetables, tucking it in around the edges.
Make a few holes in the pastry using the the point of a knife, then bake for 20 minutes.
Leave to cool a little, then place a plate over the pan and carefully turn the pan over to invert the tart on to the plate.
Serve warm.
Almond and raspberry frangipani tart
“I adore almond puddings and this French version of a Bakewell tart is one of my favourites,” says Roux.
“Raspberries work perfectly with almonds but cherries would also be good here.”
Serves 6-8. Ingredients.
For the pastry: 150g butter, softened; 90g caster sugar; 2 free-range eggs; pinch of salt; 240g plain flour, plus extra for dusting; 75g ground almonds.
For the almond cream: 200g butter, softened; 200g caster sugar; 200g ground almonds; 2tbsp plain flour; 4 free-range eggs; 1tbsp dark rum or Ratafia (fruit-based liqueur). For the jam and fruit: 60g raspberry jam; 250g raspberries. To serve: icing sugar; ice cream or chantilly cream.
For the pastry, mix the softened butter with the caster sugar until combined.
Mix in the eggs, then add the salt, flour and ground almonds and bring everything together into a dough.
You can do this by hand or in a food processor or stand mixer.
Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill it in the fridge for about two hours.
Dust your work surface with flour, roll out the pastry and use it to line a tart tin or flan ring measuring about 24 centimetres in diameter.
For the almond cream, whisk the butter and sugar until pale, then add the ground almonds and flour and whisk to combine.
Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then add the rum or Ratafia.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Remove the tart case from the fridge and spread a thin layer of jam over the pastry.
Add the almond cream and arrange the raspberries evenly on top.
Bake for about 45 minutes until the tart is golden and cooked through. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with ice cream or cool with chantilly cream.
Don’t put this tart in the fridge.