Deux tartes fines

We’re galloping toward the holiday season, so this post kicks off a series of recipes that you may enjoy pre-, post- and during the end of year festivities — beginning with two tartes fines, the French version of pizza. The first marries bacon and fresh sage, while the second sets baby spinach and mushrooms on a layer of cream. These are of course not holiday dishes, but they’re perfect for serving between the feasts — quick, simple, crowd-pleasing.

Tarte fine bacon et sauge / French pizza with bacon and sage
Tarte fine champignons épinards / French pizza with mushrooms and spinach

Coming next: roast duck with thyme, and galettes de pomme de terre, the French version of potato pancakes. These two dishes may be happily combined for a holiday dinner, and may work well in a year where the Christmas-New Year season and the eight days of Hanukkah coincide.

There are already many holiday dishes on the site — you can see them by clicking on Holiday Menus. I’ve included some of my favorite recipes, like roast partridge with pears, pumpkin gratin and wild mushrooms with herbs, as well as a variety of holiday desserts. In addition to the traditional menus, there are selections for vegetarians and vegans, as well as a ‘from the sea’ menu consisting entirely of fish and seafood.

As for today’s tartes fines, the recipes are adapted from Simplissime, the cookbook I wrote about in my last post. It was hard to choose which ones to try because the author, J.F. Mallet, includes ten of them and they all look delicious. I’m happy to say they were a success on the first try. If you like this style of recipe please let me know. There will be more to come in the new year.

Happy cooking!