Tartiflette

Name: Tartiflette
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 4 servings personer
Cuisine: french
Ingredients: 1.2 kg waxy potatoes, rinsed; 1 reblochon, whole cheese with rind, about 450 g; 200 g smoked bacon, diced; 2 onion, thinly sliced; 1 clove garlic, halved; 1 dl dry white wine; 1 dl crème fraîche, 38%; salt; pepper, freshly ground; 1 butterhead lettuce, rinsed and torn into bite-sized pieces; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; 1 tbsp white wine vinegar; 3 tbsp olive oil

A Savoyard gratin of sliced potatoes, bacon and onion, topped with a whole reblochon, rind intact, that melts down through the layers as it bakes.

🍽️ 4 servings personer⏱️ 2 h 5 min (45 min active)french

The potatoes are boiled tender and left to steam dry, while bacon, onion and wine come together as the savory filling. The dish is then built in layers, baked with reblochon and rested briefly, while the sharp salad is tossed together. The key is the potatoes' firm tenderness, which keeps the layers holding together.

Ingredients

For the Tartiflette

1.2 kg waxy potatoes, rinsed
1 reblochon, whole cheese with rind, about 450 g
200 g smoked bacon, diced
2 onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, halved
1 dl dry white wine
1 dl crème fraîche, 38%
salt
pepper, freshly ground

Green salad

1 butterhead lettuce, rinsed and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil

How to make it

Put the potatoes whole and unpeeled into a pot, cover them with cold water, and salt the water generously. Boil for 30 minutes total, until a knife slides easily into the center without the potato falling apart. ⏱ 30 min · passive
Chef's tip Whole and unpeeled means the potato absorbs far less water, so the slices stay intact under the cheese. Test with a knife at the center — it should meet no resistance but the skin shouldn't be split and gaping.
Drain the water and let the potatoes steam dry in the pot for 15 minutes, until they are warm and firm enough to be cut into whole slices. ⏱ 15 min · passive
Chef's tip The rest lets surface moisture evaporate and the flesh firm up as it cools slightly. Slice a hot, wet potato and it crumbles; after 15 minutes the knife leaves a clean face.
Preheat the oven to 200°C and rub the bottom and sides of an ovenproof dish with the cut side of the halved garlic clove, so the dish smells faintly of garlic.
Fry the bacon in a dry skillet over medium heat for 8 minutes, until the fat has rendered clear and the pieces are golden and crisp at the edges.
Add the sliced onion to the pan and sauté in the bacon fat for 6 minutes, until soft, glossy and just barely golden.
Pour the white wine into the hot pan and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Let the wine reduce for 3 minutes, until the pan is nearly dry and the smell of alcohol is gone.
Chef's tip The wine dissolves the browned fond stuck to the pan, which is where most of the savoury depth sits. Reduce until the pan is nearly dry — leftover raw wine reads sharp against the cheese.
Peel the skin off the warm potatoes with your fingers and cut them into slices half a centimeter thick, so they can be layered tightly. ⏱ 10 min
Chef's tip Half a centimeter is thick enough that the slice holds together after half an hour in the oven; thinner slices cook away into the cheese. The skin comes off in whole sheets as long as the potato is still warm.
Cut the reblochon horizontally through the middle with a large knife, so you get two flat halves with the rind intact all the way around. Leave the rind on — it holds the cheese together during baking and becomes soft and edible.
Chef's tip Splitting the cheese horizontally doubles the melting surface facing the potatoes while the rind stays as an intact rim, keeping the paste from spreading out sideways. A large, unserrated knife warmed under hot water cuts cleanest.
Arrange half of the potato slices in a tight layer in the garlic-rubbed dish and spread half of the bacon-onion mixture on top. Repeat with the rest, salting only very lightly between the layers, since both the bacon and the reblochon are quite salty. Grind pepper over the top at the end.
Dot the top layer with spoonfuls of crème fraîche and spread them out lightly with the back of a spoon, so the surface is unevenly covered and a few potato slices peek through.
Chef's tip Crème fraîche at 38% fat stands up to the oven heat; leaner versions split and leave watery patches between the potatoes. The spoonfuls shouldn't cover it completely — the bare potato edges turn crisp.
Place the two cheese halves on top with the rind side up, so the cut side faces down into the filling and the melted cheese runs down through the layers instead of pooling on top.
Bake the tartiflette in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes, until the cheese has melted down between the potatoes and the surface is bubbling and golden at the edges. ⏱ 30 min · passive
Whisk the Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper together in the bottom of a large bowl, then whisk in the olive oil a little at a time, until the vinaigrette is thick and smooth without separating.
Toss the rinsed lettuce leaves in the vinaigrette with your hands, until each leaf is glossy and there is no liquid pooled at the bottom of the bowl.
Take the dish out and let the tartiflette rest for 5 minutes, until the melted cheese has settled enough that it won't run out when you cut into it. ⏱ 5 min · passive
Set the hot dish in the middle of the table on a trivet along with the salad bowl. Cut the tartiflette into squares and lift them onto flat plates with the cheese side up. Let everyone help themselves to green salad on the side — the salad is eaten alongside the rich dish, not after it.