Hiking and Cooking in the South of France

The choice of vegetables for this pasta reflects the season: choose roasted winter squash and pistou instead of fresh tomato sauce and basil leaves that you would choose in summer. Pistou is the traditional way of conserving fresh basil over winter in Provençe. It is a paste made from crushed basil leaves, olive oil, salt, and a dash of crushed garlic. It is still sold in small glass jars in the South of France. If you cannot find pistou in your shops, you can replace it with rocket pistou , the recipe follows. Rocket or arugula is a peppery salad, almost a herb, which survives low temperatures much better than the delicate basil even in the Mediterranean countries.  

2 servings

Wholewheat spaghetti or tagliatelle for 2 servings

1-2 handfuls of chopped winter squash

About 200 g chicken breast, cut into smallish pieces

1 shallot, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

Olive oil

100 ml chicken stock 

Freshly ground black pepper

A handful of grated parmesan

       1-2 tbsp. pistou or rocket pistou

Recipe for rocket pistou:

A small handful of chopped rocket leaves

About 1 tbsp. olive oil

A pinch of salt

1/3 clove of garlic, minced

.

If you don’t have ready-made pistou and need to make rocket pistou, start with this. Crush all the ingredients in a mortar with a pestle. If needed, add a little more olive oil for a nice consistence. Keep refrigerated until needed.

Preheat the oven to 210° C, roast.

Place the chopped winter squash in a small oven-proof dish in single layer and mix with 1 tbsp. olive oil until coated.  Roast for about 25 minutes until soft.

Meanwhile sauté the chicken pieces in olive oil over medium heat for about 5- 10 minutes. Add the shallot, garlic, and cherry tomatoes. Continue sautéing for 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock and reduce the heat to simmering. 

Cook the pasta and grate the parmesan. Drain the cooked pasta, divide on the plates and fold in the parmesan with a fork. Top the pasta with with sautéd chicken and roasted winter squash. Sprinkle over the pistou or rocket pistou.

La Gardiole de l'Alp summit

In the Queyras Regional Nature Park, La Gardiole de l’Alp (2786 m) is an easily reached summit. Situated northeast of Molines-en-Queyras, the peak is less visited in summer but popular among ski tourers and snowshoers due to the topography of its grassy south-facing flank.

We took the D205 road from Molines-en-Queyras to Pierre Grosse (1915 m), and found a parking by the road near the village entrance.

La Gardiole de l'Alp seen from Sommet Bucher

Signpost Pierre Grosse

Leaving Pierre Grosse

Above Molines-en-Queyras view south

Easy start from Pierre Grosse

Above Pierre Grosse

Bergerie de l'Alp

Above Bergerie de l'Alp

View to west from Gardiole south flank

Rocky stretch before la Gardiole de l'Alp

Pic de Ch.Renard seen from northwest

Gardiole de l'Alp hike trail

Lemon-balsamic chicken thighs

Meaty chicken thighs with skin are tasty pieces of chicken and very versatile. The skin keeps the meat juicy during the cooking and can easily be removed on the plates as most of the chicken fat is directly under the skin.

Chicken thighs can be simply rubbed with olive oil before roasting or, as in this recipe, coated with a tasty sauce.

2 servings

4 chicken thighs with skin

Sauce:

2 tbsp. olive oil

Juice and zest of ½ organic lemon

2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 shallot, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried Provençal herbs

Preheat the oven to 200°C, roast.

Place the chicken thighs in an oven- proof dish. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and pour over the thighs. Roast for about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile wash 2 tomatoes, cut into halves and coat with breadcrumbs and some olive oil. Roast in the same dish as the thighs for 20 minutes.

Cook some wholewheat pasta and great a little parmesan.

Serve the chicken thighs with pasta and roasted tomato halves.

This recipe is inspired by a first course we had in a restaurant in Salo, Finland one snowy winter evening. The combination of roasted winter squash cubes, rocket salad leaves, and crumbled feta cheese was very tasty.

With some good wholegrain bread, you can serve the salad for a light and anti-oxidant rich lunch. A smaller portion makes a nice first course.

2 servings for lunch

2 handfuls of winter squash cubes

1 small onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

Olive oil

3 handfuls of rocket salad leaves

A handful of crumbled feta

2 tbsp. olive oil vinaigrette

Preheat the oven to 210°C, roast.

Place 2 tbsp. olive oil in a plastic bag. Add the winter squash cubes, onion slices, and minced garlic. Shake well and pour into an oven- proof dish in one layer. Roast for 25- 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft and have got some colour. Set aside.

Divide the salad on the plates. Add the roasted vegetables and top with crumbled feta. Sprinkle with olive oil vinaigrette.

View southeast from Col des Estronques

The 130 km* long GR58 (Tour de Queyras) long distance hiking trail connects St-Véran (2040 m) and Ceillac (1640 m) in the Queyras Regional Nature Park.

The trail runs via the Col des Estronques Mountain pass (2651 m). Some years ago, we had to turn around just before the col when a fierce thunderstorm hit the area.

Crossing Torrent de Curlet

GR58 after Torrent de Curlet

GR58 Bois du Moulin in background

Saint-Véran and Pic du Ch.Renard

Alpine meadow before Col des Estronques

GR58 near col des Estronques

Col des Estronques

Col des Estronques hike trail

The following recipe makes a quick and tasty dinner when you need the food fast on the plates after a long day in the mountains or elsewhere…Serve it with black or parboiled brown rice and some simple roasted vegetables like courgette wedges or tomato halves.

2 servings

2 chicken breasts

2 tbsp. breadcrumbs

2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

A generous amount, about 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200° C, roast.

Combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Spread the mixture on a plate.

Spread the mustard on both sides of chicken breasts, then coat them with the breadcrumb mixture. Transfer the chicken breasts in an oiled oven- proof dish and sprinkle some olive oil on them. Roast for 25 minutes together with the vegetables.

Meanwhile cook the rice. Divide the chicken, vegetables, and rice on the plates and decorate with some fresh herbs.

In summer, some of the chairlifts in the Serre Chevalier area open, serving walkers, sightseers and mountain bikers.

Taking an advantage of them is a very good idea if thunderstorms are forecasted in the afternoon or if you simply prefer to do a shorter hike. But thanks to the vast network of trails, you can perfectly well start at over 2000 m elev. and still find long and strenuous itineraries if you wish.

Here’s what we did on the last two days of our stay:

Bachas chairlift Monêtier

Le Bachas view north

Towards Pas de l'Ane

Pas de l'Ane in sight

Landscape west of Pas de l'Ane

Monetier Pas de l'Ane hike track

View west from Serre Chevalier

Glacier near Serre Chevalier

Mount Chaberton viewed from Serre Chevalier

Late one evening, we had a nice comforting pasta in an Italian Riverside restaurant in Savannah. We had been travelling all day and this warm and tasty dish was just what we needed. The pasta was grilled in individual oven- proof dishes until the cheese had melted and included a good mixture of vegetables: mushrooms, spinach, shallots, and garlic. It had quite a generous amount of cream sauce in the American style and the choice of two cheeses, parmesan and mozzarella, went well with the vegetables.

The following recipe is my twist of that pasta. I have omitted the cream and chosen wholewheat pasta for a healthier variation. Almost any pasta shapes work in this recipe except the long ones like spaghetti or tagliatelle.

If you have individual oven-proof dishes by all means use them for an impressive presentation. Our photo shows two portions of the recipe.

2 servings

2 handfuls of wholewheat pasta such as fusilli or penne

Olive oil

2 handfuls of sliced mushrooms

2- 3 shallots, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

50 ml white wine

100 ml chicken stock

1 tsp. Provençal herbs

Freshly ground black pepper

3 handfuls of baby spinach leaves

1 small mozzarella ball

2 handfuls of grated parmesan

Warm 2 tbsp. olive oil in a   sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the mushrooms until they start releasing some liquid. Add the shallots and garlic and continue sautéing for 5- 10 minutes stirring now and again. Add the white wine, chicken stock, herbs, and some black pepper. Reduce the heat for simmering.

Meanwhile cook the pasta, cut the mozzarella into eight chunks and grate the parmesan. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add to the sauté pan. Add the spinach and continue sautéing until the spinach has just wilted. 

Preheat the oven to 210°C, roast.

Transfer the pasta and vegetables into an oven- proof dish and fold in the parmesan. Scatter the mozzarella chunks among the pasta and vegetables. Roast for 5- 10 minutes until the mozzarella has melted.