Tartiflette
Tartiflette is a dish from the French Alps that looks ancient but was popularised in the 1980s by reblochon producers, modelled on older Savoyard potato and cheese bakes — it soon became a ski-resort classic. It is potatoes boiled in their skins, layered with fried lardons and onion, moistened with cream and covered with reblochon, rind upwards. In the oven the cheese melts and floods everything beneath it. It is very rich, so it is served with a green salad and nothing else.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Boiling the potatoes 20 min
- Bacon and onion 15 min
- Assembling 10 min
- Baking 30 min
- Resting 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBoil the potatoes
Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water for 18–20 minutes, until almost tender — a fork should meet slight resistance. Overcooked ones collapse in the gratin.
Ingredients: 1000 g waxy potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon, diced · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 100 ml dry white wine · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 450 g reblochon cheese · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt · 15 g butter for the dish
Cool and slice
Drain, cool until you can handle them, peel and cut into 1 cm slices.
Ingredients: 1000 g waxy potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon, diced · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 100 ml dry white wine · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 450 g reblochon cheese · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt · 15 g butter for the dish
1 cm slices — thinner ones fall apart.Fry the bacon
Put the bacon in a dry pan and fry 5 minutes until the fat renders and it browns. Lift it out with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat.
Ingredients: 1000 g waxy potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon, diced · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 100 ml dry white wine · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 450 g reblochon cheese · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt · 15 g butter for the dish
Soften the onion
In the same fat fry the sliced onions for 8 minutes, until soft and starting to colour. Add the garlic and fry half a minute.
Ingredients: 1000 g waxy potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon, diced · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 100 ml dry white wine · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 450 g reblochon cheese · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt · 15 g butter for the dish
Onion in bacon fat — that is where the flavour is.Reduce the wine
Pour in the wine and cook 3 minutes, scraping the base of the pan, until little is left. Off the heat, stir the bacon back in.
Ingredients: 1000 g waxy potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon, diced · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 100 ml dry white wine · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 450 g reblochon cheese · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt · 15 g butter for the dish
Assemble
Heat the oven to 200°C. Butter a dish of about 22 × 30 cm and at least 6 cm deep — the potatoes and bacon make a layer about 3 cm thick and the cheese bubbles hard on top. Lay half the potatoes, then all the bacon and onion, season with pepper, then the remaining potatoes. Pour over the cream.
Ingredients: 1000 g waxy potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon, diced · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 100 ml dry white wine · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 450 g reblochon cheese · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt · 15 g butter for the dish
Add the cheese
Cut the reblochon horizontally in half. Lay both halves on top, cut side down and rind up — the rind holds the cheese in and browns beautifully.
Ingredients: 1000 g waxy potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon, diced · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 100 ml dry white wine · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 450 g reblochon cheese · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt · 15 g butter for the dish
Rind up — that is the part that browns.Bake and serve
Bake at 200°C for 25–30 minutes, until the cheese melts and browns and the sauce bubbles at the edges. Rest 10 minutes and serve with a green salad.
Ingredients: 1000 g waxy potatoes · 200 g smoked bacon, diced · 2 pcs onions · 1 clove garlic · 100 ml dry white wine · 150 ml whipping cream (30%) · 450 g reblochon cheese · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt · 15 g butter for the dish
Before you start
Instead of reblochon
Reblochon (a round of about 450 g) turns up in larger supermarkets, cheese shops and online French delis. Two camemberts or a piece of brie weighing about 450 g in total will stand in — milder and less nutty, but the gratin works. The cheese needs a rind and must melt well.
Without wine
Use 100 ml of stock with a tablespoon of lemon juice. The acidity is needed to balance the richness of cheese and bacon.
Storage
It keeps 2 days in the fridge. Reheat covered with foil at 180°C for 20 minutes. Do not freeze — the potatoes turn watery and the cream sauce separates.
