Lunch
Petits farcis (Niçoise stuffed vegetables)
Petits farcis from Nice — round zucchini, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and onions filled with meat, parmesan, herbs and their own flesh, baked until golden.
Published · Updated
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 1 h 15 min
- Rest
- 10 min
- Total
- 2 h 10 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
Method
Heat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F) and oil a large baking dish. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.
Peel the onions and simmer them whole for 10 minutes. Lift them out, halve them across and push out the centres, leaving two or three outer layers as cups. Chop the centres.
Cut a lid off the round zucchini (or halve regular ones lengthwise) and halve the eggplants lengthwise. Blanch them in the same water for 5 minutes, then drain them upside down.
With a teaspoon, scoop the flesh out of the zucchini and eggplants, leaving a shell about 5 mm (¼ in) thick. Chop the flesh.
Cut a lid off the tomatoes, scoop out the seeds and pulp, salt the insides lightly and turn them upside down to drain. Halve the peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds and white ribs.
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and cook the chopped onion for 5 minutes. Add the chopped zucchini and eggplant flesh and the garlic, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring, until the moisture has evaporated. Leave to cool a little.
Squeeze the soaked bread. If using leftover daube, chop it finely with a knife. In a bowl, mix the meat, the cooked vegetables, the bread, parsley, parmesan and thyme; season well, then work in the eggs.
Arrange all the vegetable shells in the dish and fill them generously, mounding the stuffing slightly. Mix the breadcrumbs with the parmesan, sprinkle over the tops and drizzle with olive oil. Pour 3–4 tbsp water into the bottom of the dish.
Bake for 50–60 minutes, until the tops are well browned and the vegetables are tender when pierced. If the stuffing uses raw meat, check that it is cooked through in the centre.
Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving, or let them cool completely and serve at room temperature.
Tips
- With raw meat, fry a small spoonful of stuffing before filling the vegetables and taste it for seasoning.
- Tomatoes cook faster than the rest. If they are very ripe, put them in the oven 15 minutes after the other vegetables so they do not collapse.
- The farcis reheat well and are just as good the next day at room temperature.
- Any leftover stuffing can be rolled into small balls and baked alongside the vegetables.
Watch it being made
Petit Farcis: How to Make Provencale Stuffed Vegetables — Pistou and Pastis (YouTube). The player loads only when you press play.
A dish of summer and leftovers
Petits farcis are one of the great summer dishes of Nice: a tray of small vegetables — round zucchini, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, onions — each hollowed out, filled and baked until the tops are brown and crisp. They appear at family lunches, on picnic tables, in the windows of delicatessens in the old town and on the menus of Niçoise restaurants, often served simply at room temperature.
The dish grew out of thrift. Traditionally the filling used whatever meat was left over from a daube or a pot-au-feu, stretched with bread, cheese and the scooped-out flesh of the vegetables themselves. Nothing was wasted. Some cooks braise a piece of veal with onion and garlic especially for the farcis and mince it afterwards; others simply use raw veal and sausage meat. Every family in Nice seems to have its own proportions, and the discussion about which version is the real one never quite ends.
Choosing the vegetables
Pick small, firm vegetables of roughly similar size so that they cook evenly. The round zucchini sold in Nice markets in summer are ideal: they sit upright and hold plenty of stuffing. Tomatoes should be ripe but still firm, otherwise they collapse in the oven. Sweet onions become tender and almost caramelised; peppers bring colour. You do not need every vegetable — three kinds are plenty for a family dish.
Parmesan is not a mistake here: Nice was long linked to Piedmont and Liguria, and the local cooking uses hard Italian-style cheeses readily. A good olive oil for the final drizzle matters as much as the filling.
Variations
- Meatless farcis: bind the vegetable flesh with rice or bread, parmesan, eggs and plenty of herbs. Some cooks add chopped Swiss chard leaves, as in other Niçoise dishes.
- Zucchini flowers: in early summer, the flowers can be filled with the same stuffing and baked briefly — or dipped in batter for zucchini flower fritters.
- Herbs: basil, marjoram or a pinch of thyme all work; keep the parsley and garlic, which are the backbone of the flavour.
Serving
Serve the farcis warm or at room temperature, never piping hot — the flavours come through better once they have rested. As a starter, allow two or three pieces per person; as a main course, serve a full assortment with a green salad or a grilled pepper salad. Together with a slice of pissaladière and a glass of chilled rosé, they make a very Niçoise summer lunch.
Questions & answers
Can I make petits farcis without meat?
Yes. Replace the meat with 150 g (1 cup) cooked rice or more bread, add an extra handful of parmesan and more of the scooped vegetable flesh. Meatless versions are a long-standing alternative in Nice.
Which vegetables are best for farcis?
Small, firm ones that hold their shape. Round zucchini are the classic; tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and onions complete the dish. In summer, zucchini flowers can be stuffed too.
Can I prepare them in advance?
You can prepare the shells and the stuffing the day before and keep them separately in the fridge. Fill and bake on the day, or bake them entirely in advance and serve them at room temperature.
