In Tartiflette We Trust

Posted on November 7, 2013 in Food Inghams Ski Holidays by Tim.Fowler Tags: , , , , ,

“In Tartiflette we definitely trust!”

The traditional Savoyarde Tartiflette originated in the Savoie area of the Alps.  It has become a very popular dish for lunch or dinner on ski holidays particularly in France. Tartiflette is normally easy to locate in ski resorts and mountain restaurants, just use your nose to follow the cheesy smell of the melted Reblechon!

Here is our winning recipe for one of our favourite Alpine dishes:

Ingredients

·         1kg/2lb 4oz Potatoes, peeled

·         50g Butter

·         250g/8oz Bacon lardons

·         2 Onions

·         100ml/3½fl oz White wine

·         200ml/7fl oz Double cream

·         Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

·         1 whole Reblochon cheese (about 450g/1lb), sliced

Peel and thinly slice your potatoes as if you were going to be making potato dauphinoise. One common faux pas with cooking tartiflette is under cooking the potatoes.  There’s nothing worse than smelling the lardons and reblechon and then biting into a hard potato.  Par boil the potatoes before layering the mix, however if you have a good fan oven then you should be safe without having to par boil the potatoes before.  Once you have par boiled your potatoes in water, drain them and leave them in the pan but off the heat.

Chop the onions in half and then thinly slice the halves. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the onions, cook on a medium heat until the onions have softened.  Throw in the lardons and cook through.  Depending on personal taste you can brown the bacon off if you prefer it a little bit crispier.  Once happy with your onion and lardon mix begin the layering process. 

Spread one layer of your potatoes onto the bottom of an oven proof dish; don’t worry about placing them in a pretty pattern, once served tartiflette tends to lose its shape.  For what it lacks in presentation it certainly makes up for in flavour!  Now take a large spoonful of the onions and lardons and sprinkle on top of the layer of potatoes.  Spread another layer of potatoes on top and continue this procedure until you reach the top of the dish, leaving a slight gap at the top for the cheese.

Once the frying pan from the lardons is empty use the same pan to heat your cream and white wine which really utilises all that flavour from the onions and bacon.  Pour both liquids in and heat slowly until simmering.  Pour over the layers of potato in the dish until there is roughly an inch of liquid from the top.  (Trying to clear up over flown tartiflette from the bottom of an oven is not an easy task).

Remove your packet of Reblochon cheese from the fridge just before you are about to cut it.  Reblochon melts very easily and at room temperature it becomes a lot trickier and messier to handle.  Slice the round wheel of cheese from one side to the other so you get thin strips to lay on top of your potatoes trying to cover as much of the dish as possible.

Pop in the oven at 180°C for roughly 45 minutes depending on how much you cooked your potatoes before.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestion: Traditionally tartiflette should be served with a platter of charcuterie meats and a side salad however for a more British twist it goes as a great substitute for a potato salad at a BBQ.