Tartiflette: a French Potato and Cheese Dish That Will Make You Swoon
Tartiflette is one of those dishes that you can’t believe you lived without. This French tartiflette recipe combines crispy cubes of potato, melty cheese, onions, lardons (pancetta) and white wine for a decadent meal!
Sometimes I learn about a new dish, or taste something I’ve never had before at a restaurant. I then feel the need to immediately try making it in my own kitchen.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Discovering Tartiflette
This happened a few weeks ago when I happened upon a unique French cheese in a gourmet warehouse. Unfortunately didn’t have my usual French guide and translator (my friend, Marie) with me, so I asked another lady nearby who just happened to be from France (yes, I was that lucky)!
This post is sponsored by the Idaho® Potato Commission, however all opinions are my own.
As the label states “cheese for Tartiflette”, I asked the lady, “What is tartiflette?” After she gave me a brief description, that package of cheese went right into my shopping cart. It sounded wonderful!
When I came home, I did a little research, called my friend Marie, looked at a plethora of tartiflette recipes. I actually became quite knowledgable on something I’d never even heard of a few days earlier.
The Origin of Tartiflette
Apparently, a tartiflette recipe was created in the 1980s to increase the sales of French reblochon cheese (made from cow’s milk) in the Savoy region of the Alps. The recipe was a great success. The name “tartiflette” may have been derived from the Piedmontese word for potato “tartiflâ“. The original recipe includes potatoes, onions, lardons (bacon), garlic, salt, pepper and the reblochon cheese which is baked.
As you can imagine, these ingredients result in an incredibly tasty, cheesy, and comforting dish which is perfect for cold winter days or nights. Now, it is often served as an après ski meal, which makes sense as one needs to fuel up after a long day of skiing!
How to Make Tartiflette
As reblochon style cheese is not going to be easy to find (or affordable, if you do find it) at your local US grocery store, I suggest using an slightly aged brie, which is similar in texture and consistency. Alternately, one could use raclette, as I think the flavor would also work well with this creation, however, it won’t be quite as similar to using the reblochon/brie.
Also, finding lardons in the US will prove to be quite difficult, so I’ve suggested using pancetta (or even bacon). I make my own pancetta, which is shown in the photo below.
As always, please use the best quality ingredients you can manage. For example, look for the Idaho® Potato logo to be sure your potatoes will have the best flavor and don’t use margarine instead of butter. Every little ingredient makes a difference. (This tartiflette recipe is adapted for US kitchens.)
You may also enjoy this Italian cheese and ham laden potato dish: Gattò di Patate
Tartiflette Recipe
adapted from a recipe by Felicity Cloake serves 6
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Cook the potatoes
Boil the potatoes in salted water until just cooked. Drain and set aside.
Prepare the pancetta and onions
In a large frying pan, sauté the pancetta and onions in a tablespoon of the butter until it begins to brown. Then add the wine and continue to cook until it has mostly evaporated.
Remove from heat and stir in the cream.
Chop the potatoes into bite sized pieces and sauté in 2 tbsp. of butter until some are golden brown. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Assemble
Cut the clove of garlic in two and rub the cut side over the inside of of a baking dish (I used a deep pie pan), then layer half of the potatoes into the bottom, then add half of the pancetta and onion mixture.
Cut the reblochon or brie in half, horizontally; using dental floss makes this task easier than using a knife (thanks to commenter Donna for the tip. I use this myself with goat cheese). Place the bottom half of the cheese on top of the mixture in the pan, then add the remaining potatoes, pancetta and onion mixture. See how easy this tartiflette recipe is?
Now place the other half of the cheese on top, skin side up.
Bake the Tartiflette
Put the dish into the preheated oven for for about 25 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is bubbly. You can also pop it under the broiler for an extra bit of crispiness, if you like. Tartiflette can also be made into individual servings in smaller ovenproof bowls.
Serve hot, with a glass of dry white wine.
Tartiflette is obviously not going to win any beauty contests, but when you taste the fabulous combination of flavors all melting onto the gorgeous potatoes, you won’t care what it looks like. Let me know how you like this tartiflette recipe in the comments below.
Check out the Idaho Potato Commission’s website for many other great potato recipes
and tips on cooking with potatoes.
Don’t miss another recipe or travel post, sign up for my free subscription below!
Bon appétit!
Tartiflette: a French Potato and Cheese Dish That Will Make You Swoon
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lbs yellow Idaho® potatoes (roughly 6 large potatoes)
- 3 Tbsp butter (good quality)
- 1 large onion (thinly sliced, sprinkled with a little salt)
- ¾ cup pancetta (sliced, you can use bacon if you cannot find or make pancetta)
- 4 oz dry white wine
- 4 oz whipping cream
- 1 lb reblochon (or ripe brie)
- 1 clove garlic
- ⅛ tsp salt (to taste)
- ⅛ tsp pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in salted water until just cooked. Drain and set aside.
- In a large frying pan, sauté the pancetta and onions 1 tablespoon of the butter until it begins to brown. Then add the wine and continue to cook until it has mostly evaporated.
- Remove from heat and stir in the cream.
- Chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and sauté in the remaining 2 Tbsp. of butter until some are golden brown.Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Cut the clove of garlic in two and rub the cut side over the inside of of a baking dish (I used a deep pie pan), then layer half of the potatoes into the bottom, then add half of the pancetta and onion mixture.
- Cut the reblochon or brie in half (horizontally);using plain dental floss makes this task easier than using a knife (thanks to commenter Donna for the tip). Place the bottom half of the cheese on top of the mixture in the pan, then add the remaining potatoes, pancetta, and onion mixture.
- Place the other half of the cheese on top, skin side up.
- Place into the preheated oven for for about 25 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is bubbly. You can also pop it under the broiler for an extra bit of crispiness, if you like. Tartiflette can also be made into individual servings in smaller ovenproof bowls.
- Serve hot with a glass of dry white wine.
Notes
- Use fresh, quality ingredients for the best results.
Nutrition
I was sponsored by The Idaho® Potato Commission to create this recipe, however, I only promote items I use and truly believe in.
Christina’s Cucina is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Just the images look good enough for me to lick my screen