Based at Le Grizzly restaurant on the Beauregard plateau, Édouard Loubet has planted his herbs and set out his knives in the heart of the Aravis mountains. After a Michelin-star career in Provence, the boy from Val Thorens came back to put down roots in the mountains of his birth and to be with his family again. So, what is his cooking like? Generous, mountain food, full of freshness… And always rooted in the land.
When faced with an iconic cheese from the Aravis region, the chef doesn’t back off. We set him a very local challenge: to bring out the best in Le Petit Agnellet, the fresh, tender sheep’s cheese that we get directly from the Agnellet farm in La Clusaz. Édouard Loubet came up with two fresh and daring creations: on the one hand, Miam Agnellet, a fluffy flatbread somewhere between a naan bread and a quiche, served with a creamy herb dip; on the other, an alpine version of faux tomato-burrata, where the cheese is nestled in a crispy herb parcel, served with colourful tomatoes and homemade pesto.
“Why go looking for cheeses elsewhere when we have everything here?” the chef asks. The stage is set. By revisiting great summer classics with 100% Aravis produce, Le Grizzly’s chef proves that you can be gourmet, local and inventive, without ever straying far from the farm.
Recipe 1
Miam Agnellet and creamy herb dip
Ingredients for 4 people:
For the miam flatbreads:
- 400 g flour
- 800 g goat’s cheese
- 60 cl warm milk (or water)
- 10 g baker’s yeast
- Salt and pepper
- 1 lemon
• 1 egg + a little milk for browning
For the creamy Agnellet dip with herbs
- 2 fresh Le Petit Agnellet cheeses
- 1 tbsp chopped dill, tarragon, thyme and basil
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- 40 g shelled raw broad beans
- Salt and pepper
Preparing the flatbreads:
1) Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.
2) Mix the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Gradually stir in the dissolved yeast. Mix until you get a smooth ball of dough.
3) Cut the cheese into cubes and add to the dough. Cover and leave to rise for 2 hours at room temperature.
4) Cut the dough into balls. Place them on a tray and then press them down with your hand. Arrange them on a baking tray, 1-cm thick and 12 cm in diameter.
5) Mix the eggs and milk in a bowl. Brush the miams with the egg wash and sprinkle with a few thyme flowers, finely sliced pieces of lemon zest and a few grains of fleur de sel salt.
6) Bake at 250°C for 8 to 10 minutes (gas mark 8/9).
Preparing the creamy dip:
Chop the herbs (equivalent of a tablespoon), add to the cheese and stir well until it’s nice and creamy. Season and add the olive oil, chopped herbs and broad beans. Stir well, adding the juice of half a lemon.
Hacher les herbes (équivalent d’une cuillère à soupe), bien remuer pour obtenir un fromage crémeux. Assaisonner, ajouter l’huile d’olive, les herbes hachées et les fèves. Bien remuer en ajoutant le demi-jus de citron
Recipe 2
Crunchy Agnellet with herbs and tomato
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 7 tomatoes of various colours
- 1 pot of basil
- 50 g pine nuts
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 3 Le Petit Agnellet cheeses
- 2 sheets of brik pastry
- 8 lovage leaves
- 8 basil leaves
- 4 agastache leaves
- 1 garlic clove
- Fleur de sel salt
- 50 g pumpkin seeds
Preparation:
1) To make the pesto: place the pine nuts on a baking tray in the oven at 180°C for 6 to 8 minutes. Peel the garlic, then in a bowl, blend with the basil, salt, pine nuts and olive oil for a long time. Place in a bowl tightly wrapped in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge.
2) Cut the tomatoes into thin strips and quarters. Place a little pesto in the bottom of a dish, followed by the slices of tomato and 3 slices of Le Petit Agnellet, generously placed on top.
3) Cut a nice slice of Agnellet (about 1-cm thick). Cut the slice into two half-moons.
4) Cut a sheet of brik pastry into 4. Place a half-moon of cheese on one quarter of pastry, add a lovage leaf on top and underneath the cheese, add a little salt and pepper, then fold the brik pastry into a rectangle. Stick the ends together using water or egg wash.
5) Bake the crispy sheep’s cheese parcels for 7 minutes at 240°C. Remove from the oven and place two parcels per plate between the tomatoes and basil and agastache leaves. Drizzle pesto over the parcels and tomatoes, and sprinkle with a few grains of fleur de sel salt and a few pumpkin seeds.
