Six romantic French recipes which are easy yet impressive
France doesn’t just boast the language of love, but the cuisine to match too. There’s nothing quite as luxurious or indulgent as a plateful of rich, French fare, from a flavour-packed chasseur, to a lightly braised fricassée.
Here, ahead of Valentine’s Day, Sorted Food have chosen a selection of French recipes designed to impress your partner and inspire romance…
All recipes serve two
Chicken and mushroom fricassée with French dressed veg
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 400g new potatoes
- 200g fine green beans
- 250g chestnut mushrooms
- 200ml white wine
- 200ml double cream
- 1 beef stock cube
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 10g fresh parsley
Put a tablespoon of the olive oil into a large frying pan. Season the chicken thighs with salt and lay them in the pan, skin-side down.
Place the pan over a medium heat and allow the fat to render from the chicken. Fry for six to eight minutes, undisturbed, until the skin is golden-brown.
Tip the potatoes into a medium saucepan with a generous pinch of salt. Cover with boiling water from the kettle and place over a high heat. Boil for 10-12 minutes, until soft throughout, but still holding their shape. Add the green beans for the last two minutes.
Brush any dirt from the chestnut mushrooms and cut into quarters. Once the skin of the chicken is golden, flip the thighs in the pan. Nestle the mushrooms around them and whack up the heat.
Fry the chicken and mushrooms on high for four to five minutes, until the chicken takes on a bit more golden colour.
Once the potatoes and beans are ready, drain and return to the pan. Set aside.
Once the chicken and mushrooms are ready, add the white wine. Boil for two to three minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan all the while, until the liquid is reduced by half.
Once the wine has reduced, add the cream and crumble in the beef stock cube.
Bring everything to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for four to five minutes, until the liquid thickens and the chicken is cooked throughout when cut into.
Add the remaining olive oil, Dijon mustard and cider vinegar to the pan with the drained veg. Season with a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper, then fold everything together.
Finely chop the parsley and add three-quarters of it to the pan with the vegetables – we will use the rest for garnish.
Divide the veg between plates, then lower two chicken thighs on to each portion. Spoon over the mushroomy sauce, scatter over the remaining parsley and serve.
Roasted pork fillet with pommes purée
Roasted pork fillet with pommes purée (Photo: Sorted Food)
- 400g loose white potatoes
- 30g unsalted butter
- 350g pork fillet
- 200g tenderstem broccoli
- 1 Granny Smith apple
- 75g prunes
- 10g fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 100ml white wine
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 100g crème fraîche
- 100ml whole milk
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a large roasting tray with baking paper. Put a large saucepan of water over a high heat, add a lid and bring to the boil.
Peel and cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Carefully add the potatoes to the pan of boiling water and cook for 15-18 minutes until very soft.
In the meantime, heat half of the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Fry for six to eight minutes, turning regularly, until golden all over, then transfer to the roasting tray.
Always remember to wash your hands after handling raw meat.
Trim the tenderstem broccoli and scatter around the pork. Toss with any remaining butter from the pan, then season with salt and pepper.
Roast the pork and broccoli for 10 to 12 minutes until just cooked through. Once done, remove and rest on a clean chopping board for five minutes.
While the pork roasts, core a Granny Smith apple and cut into 1cm chunks. Halve the prunes and finely chop the thyme leaves.
To make the gravy, return the pork pan to a medium heat and melt the remaining butter. Add the apple, prunes and thyme. Cook for two to three minutes, then stir in the plain flour and cook for one minute. Pour in the white wine and boil for two minutes, then crumble in the chicken stock cube, pour in 300ml of water and simmer for four to five minutes until slightly thickened.
To make the pommes purée, drain the potatoes and return to the pan. Mash until very smooth, then fold in the crème fraîche and the whole milk, adding a little extra milk if necessary to get a loose mash. Season well with salt and pepper.
Stir the Dijon mustard into the sauce. Slice the pork fillet and serve with the pommes purée and the roasted broccoli.
Spoon over the prune and apple gravy and enjoy.
Chicken chasseur with crusty baguette
Chicken chasseur with crusty baguette (Photo: Sorted Food)
- 30g unsalted butter
- 4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 200g button mushrooms
- 200g echalion shallots
- 10g fresh thyme
- 10g fresh parsley
- 2 pork sausages
- 200g cherry tomatoes
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 100ml white wine
- ½ chicken stock cube
- 1 baguette
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Heat half the butter in a large, ovenproof frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs, skin-side down, then cook for four to five minutes until the skin is golden. Turn and cook for another four to five minutes.
While the chicken fries, slice the button mushrooms. Peel and finely chop the shallots and finely chop the thyme and parsley.
Once done, transfer the chicken to a plate and keep the pan over the heat. Add the remaining butter, squeeze in the meat from the two sausages, discarding their skin, then fry for two to three minutes, until browned. Remember to wash your hands after handling raw meat.
Add the mushrooms, shallots and cherry tomatoes to the pan. Add the caster sugar, season with salt and pepper and cook for five to seven minutes, until soft.
Stir in the thyme, along with the tomato purée and plain flour and cook for another two to three minutes, until it begins to stick. Pour in the white wine, scraping up any stuck bits, then cook for one minute, until thickened.
Crumble in half a chicken stock cube, pour in 250ml of water, then return the chicken thighs to the pan, half-submerging them in the liquid.
Place the pan in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
Tear the baguette into big chunks and place on a baking tray. Warm it in the oven for five to 10 minutes, depending on how crisp you want it.
Stir the parsley into the sauce and serve with torn pieces of baguette on the side.
Croque Madame-style pasta bake
Croque Madame-style pasta bake (Photo: Sorted Food)
- 140g diced pancetta
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 150g dried pasta
- 1½ tbsp plain flour
- 100ml white wine
- 300ml milk
- 70g cheddar
- ¼ ciabatta
- 2 large eggs
- 10g fresh parsley
Tip the pancetta and half the olive oil into a medium saucepan and place over a medium heat. Allow the fat to render from the meat, then fry for six to seven minutes, until golden-brown and crisp.
Tip the pasta into another medium saucepan. Add a generous pinch of salt and cover this with boiling water from the kettle.
Place the pan over a high heat and boil the pasta for eight to 10 minutes, until soft but still with a slight bite. Once ready, drain and return to the pan.
Once the pancetta is ready, transfer a quarter of it to a small bowl – we will use this later.
Place the pan back over a medium heat and add the flour. Fry the flour with the pancetta for one to two minutes, until it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Whack the heat up to high, then whisk the white wine into the flour and pancetta to create a thick paste. Reduce the heat to medium, then add the milk in three stages, beating well after each addition with a whisk to avoid lumps.
Simmer for one to two minutes, until the sauce is smoothie-like in consistency.
Add three-quarters of the cheese to the sauce and beat it in – we will use the rest later. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Once the pasta has been cooked and drained, tip it into the sauce. Fold everything together to coat the pasta fully.
Tip the pasta into a medium roasting tray, top with the reserved pancetta and cheese from earlier and rip over bite-sized chunks from the ciabatta. Wrap the rest of the bread in cling film to keep it fresh.
Pop the tray under the grill and cook for four to five minutes, until the top is golden.
Tip the remaining olive oil into a large frying pan and place it over a high heat. Once the oil starts to shimmer and loosen, crack in two eggs. Fry for four to five minutes, undisturbed, until the bottoms are crispy, the whites are set but the yolks still have a wobble. Roughly chop the parsley while you wait.
Divide the pasta bake between plates and top each portion with an egg. Scatter over the parsley and serve.
Harissa eggs cocotte with dippy potatoes and ciabatta soldiers
Harissa eggs cocotte with dippy potatoes and ciabatta soldiers (Photo: Sorted Food)
- 350g new potatoes
- 1 red onion
- 100ml double cream
- 1 tbsp harissa paste
- 4 large eggs
- 50g cheddar
- ¾ ciabatta
- 10g fresh parsley
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut the potatoes in half and tip them into a medium saucepan along with a generous pinch of salt.
Pour boiling water from the kettle over the potatoes to cover them and place the pan over a high heat. Cook for eight to 10 minutes, until soft but still with a slight bite.
Halve, peel and finely dice the onion. Chuck it into a fine sieve and rinse under cold running water to remove some of its harshness, then shake off any excess moisture.
Divide three-quarters of the onion between two cereal-sized heatproof bowls or ramekins – we will use the rest for garnish later.
Add half the cream and half the harissa to each ramekin. Season with a pinch of salt and beat to combine.
Crack two eggs into each of the ramekins. Coarsely grate the cheese over the ramekins.
Transfer the ramekins to a deep-sided roasting tray that fits them. Pour hot water from the kettle around the bowls so it comes up the sides.
Carefully transfer the tray to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the egg whites are fully set but the yolks still have a wobble.
Cut the ciabatta into 1½cm-thick slices (if you’ve made the Croque Madame-style pasta bake, you’ll have this left). Finely chop the parsley.
Serve with the ciabatta soldiers and warm potatoes, which are perfect for dipping. Enjoy.
Fennel and sausage cassoulet
Fennel and sausage cassoulet (Photo: Sorted Food)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 30g dried panko breadcrumbs
- 15g fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 6 pork sausages
- 1 fennel bulb
- 200g echalion shallots
- 15g unsalted butter
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 100ml white wine
- 400g tinned cannellini beans
- ½ chicken stock cube
- 50g crème fraîche
Peel and finely slice two cloves of garlic. Place a large frying pan over a medium heat with 1½ tbsp of olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for one to two minutes, until golden-brown.
Add the panko breadcrumbs and cook for two to three minutes, stirring, until golden and crisp. Transfer to a bowl. Finely chop the parsley and stir it into the crumbs.
Return the pan to a medium-high heat with the remaining olive oil.
Squeeze the meat from the pork sausages straight into the pan and fry for four to five minutes until the meat is browned all over – discard the casings.
Meanwhile, trim and thinly slice one fennel bulb and peel and finely dice the shallots.
Add the butter to the sausage pan, then the fennel, shallots, dried chilli and fennel seeds. Season well with salt and pepper. Cook for six to eight minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden.
Pour in the white wine and boil for two minutes. Add the undrained tin of cannellini beans and crumble in the chicken stock cube.
Simmer for six to eight minutes, until the sausages are cooked through and the liquid loosely coats the veg.
Stir the crème fraîche into the cassoulet, then taste and adjust the seasoning.
Ladle into bowls and top with the parsley breadcrumbs. Tuck in and enjoy.
