Tartiflette

Sackville's Note:

This is what I like to think of as the French answer to scalloped potatoes. It comes from the Haute Savoie region of France and can be very rich, although this is a slightly lighter version than others I've seen. I have also had tartiflette as a vegetarian dish by substituting some root vegetables for the bacon.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 ½ cups strong cheese , crumbled and firmly packed (reblochon if you can find it although emmenthal, muenster or gruyère will work as well)
• 1 kg waxy potato (red ones are good)
• 200 g lardons (diced smoked bacon)
• 1 onion
• butter
• 1 cup white wine
• 4 tablespoons cream
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the potatoes in boiling water until a little undercooked.
2. Reserve.
3. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and gently cook sliced onion and lardons, without letting them brown.
4. Slice the potatoes thickly, add them and continue to cook gently for 10 minutes.
5. Add the white wine and allow to reduce.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Preheat the oven to moderately hot, butter a gratin dish, and put the potato mixture in it.
8. Pour over the cream.
9. Place the cheese on top and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese has melted into the potatoes.
10. Serve with a lightly dressed green salad.

Reviews

[TJW]

One of my fave OAM dishes. I have been making this for about 8 years, and this is pretty much exactly the recipe I use, only I use half a wheel of Reblechon instead of one kilo, and it MUST be Reblechon(note the spelling) or it is not a Tartiflette, and cut it in half length wise, and put it on top, with the skin sides up. The rest I make exactly as per instructions. Qu'est-ce que c'est bon, le reblechon!

[Theresa Proctor]

I am a French teacher and I like this recipe for use in a crock pot with Muenster cheese which is popular with my students and the faculty.

[evelyn/athens]

I must say, I did not enjoy this dish as much as I thought I would. I did use Reblochon (which I love) but found it overpowered everything else and that was pretty well the only taste, with the exception of the lardons. I think a combination of the reblochon with 1 or 2 other, milder cheeses would be very nice. Also had to up the cream to about twice called for to keep the dish moist enough.