When she moved to London, her blog – Manon's Little Kitchen (now available on YouTube) – soon built a devoted following, its readers drawn to her unfussy, deeply seasonal approach to French home cooking. In 2018, she reached the quarter finals of the UK's great national culinary obsession, The Great British Bake Off and, as an alumnus of that colossus of a show, has published three cookbooks.
Her latest, La Saison (out in May and available to pre-order now), brings together 80 recipes drawn from both her London kitchen and her family farmhouse in France. Organised by season and accompanied by thoughtful tips for shopping and cooking in step with them, it moves easily from the light salads of summer to the more comforting, slow-cooked dishes of winter. Crucially, it is designed with real life in mind – generous, nourishing food that can be made even on a busy day, often in under 20 minutes.
Here, we share three perfect recipes for spring, just as the season begins to come into its own.
Pre-order La Saison
Quiche Façon Ratatouille Deep-filled Ratatouille Quiche
My maman always has one or two ready-made pastries in her refrigerator, and quiche is probably the first savoury recipe I learnt to make. I still frequently make it, as it is the perfect fridge-raid type of dish. Here, I fill it with the vegetable queen of the season: ratatouille.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 2 small aubergines (eggplants), thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 320 g (11¼ oz) sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3 tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 2 small courgettes (zucchini), thinly sliced
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
- 3 large eggs
- 50 ml (1¾ fl oz/3½ tablespoons) semi-skimmed (2%) milk
- 100 g (3½ oz) Parmesan, grated
- Handful of basil leaves
- Salt
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan (425°F).
- Place the aubergine slices on a baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt, then roast in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Without removing the paper it comes on, line deep 20 cm (8 inch) round baking tin (pan) with the puff pastry. Prick the base with a fork.
- Sprinkle the garlic over the pastry, then arrange the vegetables inside on their sides in a spiral, alternating as you go: one slice of aubergine, one slice of tomato, one slice of courgette and one slice of onion and repeat until all the vegetables have been used and two concentric circles have been made.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the herbes de Provence.
- Whisk the eggs with the milk and Parmesan, then pour the mixture over the vegetables.
- Bake in the oven for 40 minutes until golden on top, then remove from the oven and finish with the basil leaves.
Cocotte de Thon à la Provençale Provençal (Tuna Casserole)
To me, this tastes just like summer in the South of France! A delicious fish stew that everyone will love, it's perfect served with pearl barley or some cooked rice, and I love it with a dollop of aioli on top! You can make this stew with any fish you have to hand.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 onions, thinly diced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 red (bell) pepper, sliced
- 1 green (bell) pepper, sliced
- 800 g (1 lb 12 oz) tuna steaks
- 400 g (14 oz) fresh or tinned tomatoes, diced
- 100 g (3½ oz) pitted black olives
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
- 200 ml (7 fl oz/scant 1 cup) dry white wine
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- Baguette, or cooked pearl barley or rice
- Handful of sage leaves
- Aioli
Method
- Reduce the simmering time to 20 minutes for white fish, salmon or trout.
- Heat half the oil in a casserole dish (Dutch oven) over a medium heat and gently fry the onions for a few minutes until softened.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, then add the peppers and cook for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
- Add the remaining oil to the pan and sear the tuna steaks for about 1 minute on each side, then deglaze the pan with the white wine, before adding the pepper mixture back to the pan, along with the diced tomatoes, olives and herbes de Provence.
- Season well with salt and pepper.
- Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes over a low heat.
- Serve the stew with baguette, or cooked pearl barley or rice, sprinkled with the sage and topped with a spoonful of aioli.
Chaussons à la Crème de Pesto et aux Asperges Vertes (Green Asparagus and Pesto Cream Pockets)
Whether served as a starter before your Easter feast or as an easy weekday lunch with a dressed salad, these pretty feuilletés (puff pastry tartlets) are a great way to make asparagus the star. They look beautiful but are simple to achieve at home with only a few ingredients.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 320 g (11 oz) ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 12 asparagus, 1 cm (1?2 inch) trimmed from the ends
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra to serve
- Pinch of sea salt
- 100 g (3½ oz) pesto
- 100 g (3½ oz) cream cheese
Method
- Cut the pastry into in eight equal rectangles.
- Place four of the rectangles on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and brush them with the beaten egg.
- Cut out smaller rectangles, about 8 x 15 cm (3 x 6 inch), from inside the remaining rectangles, leaving only a border of pastry. Place these borders on top of the rectangles on the baking sheet, to make little tart cases.
- Prick the centres with a fork and brush the borders of pastry with more egg.
- Place the small rectangles you cut out on the sheet too and brush them with egg as well. Set aside in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (400°F).
- Place the asparagus in a separate baking tray (pan), drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the salt. Cook the asparagus and pastry cases in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the pesto with the cream cheese in a bowl.
- Once the asparagus are tender and the pastry is puffed up and golden, remove both from the oven.
- To assemble, spoon some of the pesto cream into the pastry cases and then divide the asparagus between them.
- Top with the small rectangles as 'lids'. Drizzle everything with olive oil and serve.
Extracted from La Saison by Manon Lagrève, published May 2026 by Quadrille
FAQs
What is seasonal cooking, exactly?
At its simplest, it means cooking with ingredients at their natural peak – when they taste better, cost less and require less intervention. It's less about strict rules and more about paying attention to what's growing when.
Who is Manon Lagrève?
A French cook and writer raised in Brittany, Manon first came to wider attention as a quarter-finalist on The Great British Bake Off. She now shares her approach to relaxed, seasonal French cooking through her books and her platform, Manon's Little Kitchen.
What is <i>La Saison</i> about?
Her newest book is built around the rhythm of the year, with 80 recipes organised by season, alongside practical tips for shopping and cooking in step with them.
Are these recipes suitable for everyday cooking?
Very much so. While rooted in French tradition, they're designed for modern life – straightforward, adaptable and often achievable in under half an hour.
Where can I buy <i>La Saison</i>?
The book is published by Quadrille and is available to pre-order now via Amazon and other major booksellers ahead of its May 2026 release.
