I’d like to share with you a very easy recipe that I like to prepare in the summer to accompany the 'apéritif'.

You might already know that for French people l’apéritif – also called l’apéro – is a very important time of the day, especially during vacation time.

Between around 6pm and 9pm, we usually drink either some wine, beer, a local spirit like Pastis from southern France, or homemade spirits, such as walnut wine or Orange Wine). And what we eat with our “apéro” is also very important to us.

If you have guests or on a special occasion, you may want something more than just olives and crackers. In our experience, bite-sized pastries (bouchées – like vol-au-vents) go down a real treat with guests. And this brings me to the recipe I want to share with you: Feuilletés au échalottes et au chèvre - cheese and shallot pastries.

Everybody likes it and it’s very easy to prepare quickly.

Ingredients 

Serves 4 people

  • Puff pastry (I buy them ready-made)
  • 10 medium shallots
  • A little white sugar
  • Fresh goat's cheese

If you don’t like goat cheese, you can also use Camembert or blue cheese. It’s delicious with any type of tasty cheese.

In the pictures, I used “Picodon” cheese, which is a typical goat's cheese from the Drôme area in northern Provence.

 Picodon cheese

 

Instructions

  • Pre-heat your oven t0 190°C/375°F
  • Brown the shallots gently in a teaspoon of olive oil – add some white sugar halfway through so that they caramelize.
  • Cut your puff pastry into 5cm/2 inch squares.

provence cuisine

  • Add a teaspoon of shallots to the middle of each square and a piece of cheese. Add some salt and pepper to season.
  • Close the squares by folding and pasting together (using a little water) the opposite corners of the pastry.
  • Put in the oven until the pastry has a nice color (about 20 minutes).

The bouchées should look a little like the ones in the photo below. They look much nicer if you take your time to close the pastries carefully before putting them in the oven! You can eat these hot or cold.

french recipe

 

Tip: If you use a creamy cheese such as camembert, don’t put too much into each “bouchée” otherwise it will drip during cooking.

I hope you enjoy your pastries with a nice drink!

Bon Appétit!

french recipe feuilleté

France Just For You

Experts in self-drive tours in France

Travelers Reviews

5.0
Naomi
You may already know from other reviews that "France Just for You" will create an itinerary based on your interests and time frame, booking attractions and lodgings, arranging a car, and providing a detailed guide book with historical and cultural information, and suggestions for things to see and do with your unscheduled time. The whole service is …
Deirdre
My husband and I spent one week visiting Normandy and the Loire Valley on a trip planned by France Just For You. The trip was amazing....We stayed in beautiful accomodations,had the BEST private guides,utilized many suggested itineraries---and all while keeping within our budget! For anyone who does not have the time or inclination to plan a trip …
Natalie & Family
My husband was born in France and moved to Australia in 1970 when he was just 5. He went back for the last time in 1980 and had not returned since. In January 2017 I started to formulate an idea to surprise him with a trip back home. Being Australian, we love road trips but without his French language skills I felt a bit scared to start booking …
John
My wife and I recently engaged Emilie, of France Just For You, to plan a two week trip to Provence in the first two weeks of May. It was mid-March and we found Emilie during a web search of self-driving tours of France. What a find! Emilie responded within twenty-four hours with very specific questions, wanting to know more about us, our interests …
Sandra
We are a group of Wine Aficionados and we recently traveled to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and Paris and were very impressed with this service. It took us quite some time to formalize (and agree) what we wanted in terms of places and wineries we wanted to visit, but in the end "France Just for You" came through with excellent organization and …
Craig & Ginette
France Just For You, made going to France a seamless experience. They took care of all the arrangements: train, and car travel, tours and stays. The bed and breakfasts were hosted by delightful people who took an interest in you and had met and praised Emilie. Emilie tailored the trip to our specifications. Her organizational skills are unmatched …