What do you get when you take sliced potatoes add in some smoked bacon, onions, creme fraiche, and then melt cheese over the top….you get TARTIFLETTE!
I had never heard of Tartiflette before, but last year my wife went over to France for five weeks for as part of an extensive French language program. In addition to some wine and Dijon mustard, she brought home a TARTIFLETTE dish. I figured any meal that comes with it’s own dish has to be good so we gave it a shot.
The dish is about the size of 8 x 8 pan and actually has the recipe printed on the bottom. Now it’s in French mind you but the wife speaks French so not a problem. Out of curiosity I did some research on the dish and found out that Tartiflette is a dish from the Savoie region of France, and is derived from the Savoyard word for potato. Traditionally it was made with potato, onions, lardon, and reblochon cheese. However in this particular instance I used gruyere instead of reblochon and bacon in place of lardons
First step is get your potatoes ready. Slice them thinly and then parboil them in some salted water. Once they start to soften remove them from the water and set aside to cool.
Next, the recipe called for cooking the bacon and onion together. I followed the recipe and cooked them together but found that the onions began to burn before the bacon got crisp. My recommendation is to cook the bacon on it’s own until it’s just slightly crisp. Reserve about a tbsp of the bacon fat and saute your onions in it until they start to turn translucent.
Once the bacon and onions are cooked your ready to begin building your dish. Put a layer of potatoes in the bottom of your dish and add in the bacon and onions.
Add in the creme fraiche and then add in the rest of the potatoes. Layer the cheese on top of the potatoes and then bake at 275° for about 20-25 min or until the cheese begins to turn golden brown.
The recipe originally called for placing the cheese whole on top of the potatoes and baking as is. I wasn’t sure about that so I grated the cheese and spread it out on top instead. Next time I’ll cut the cheese into thin slices and layer it over the top. Also as I mentioned I used fingerling potatoes as that’s what I had in the house, but I definitely would use a red or white potato cut into thin slices next time. Doing so will definitely result in a better structured dish.
All in all I was happy with the dish, it tasted good but I just felt that it didn’t present very well. It was kind of lumpy looking without much color. I think maybe a little parsley or thyme might spruce the dish up. Serve with a green salad and a glass of red wine and you’ve got the perfect winter dish.
La Veritable Recette De La Tartiflette
- 2 lbs potatoes
- 200g pancetta (smoked bacon)
- 1 onion
- 1 block of reblochon (you can substitute gruyere, swiss, or raclette)
- 2 tbsp of creme fraiche
- Peel the potatoes and cut into thin slices. Par boil the potato slices in salted water until they just begin to soften and set aside to cool.
- Preheat your oven to 375°
- Dice the pancetta/bacon.
- Cut the onion into thin slices.
- Cut the cheese into rectangular slices
- Arrange a layer of potatoes on the bottom of your baking dish.
- Add the onions and bacon and spread out over the layer of potatoes.
- Spread out the creme fraiche overtop of the bacon and onions.
- Add the remaining potatoes.
- Layer the cheese overtop of the potatoes.
- Bake for 20 mins or until the cheese starts to bubble and turn golden brown.
Enjoy,
LB
First Crush 