Today we are going to show you a typical French recipe. If you don’t know it, I assure you that it will surprise you. It is the Tartiflette, a kind of French pie made with potatoes, bacon and cheese. A delight for the palate, very hearty, but also very easy to make. This recipe originates from the French region of Savoie and is relatively recent, as it was created in the 80s. Join us to see how to prepare this French potato casserole with bacon and cheese.
This hearty, tasty and aromatic dish, as well as creamy, was created to promote one of its main ingredients, Reblochon cheese. A typical French cheese, from the Savoie region, with a protected geographical indication.
This magnificent marketing strategy soon became a symbol of French mountain cuisine. Very popular, especially in the ski resorts of the area. It is perfect to recharge your batteries and warm up after a long day of sport.
What is Tartiflette
This French dish consists of a casserole of boiled potatoes, which are cut into slices, and au gratin, in the oven, with bacon or bacon, cream and the main ingredient: Reblochon cheese. The result is a very hearty dish, with a creamy texture thanks to the melted and gratin cheese. And a delicious combination of flavors with potatoes, onion and bacon.
As we said, it is the perfect dish to recover and warm up after a day in the Savoy Mountains, where it originates and is an icon.
Accompany this French potato pie with cheese with a light salad first, with a good Savoie wine, as is tradition and, above all, with good bread, which I assure you will be needed.
How to make Tartiflette
To make an authentic Tartiflette we only need potatoes, Reblochon cheese, crème fraîche, and onion. The rest of the ingredients are optional. But, it is true, that finding some of these ingredients here can be somewhat complex, so later we will see how to substitute them to make a Tartiflette as authentic as possible.
This recipe, as mentioned above, consists of a baked potato casserole au gratin with onions, bacon or bacon and Reblochon cheese. We will start with the potatoes, which we have to bake. The best option is to bake them whole, with the skin on. This way they are more tender and juicy. Between 20-40 minutes, always depending on the size, will be enough. You can check that they are ready by pricking them with a fork. If it goes in easily, they are ready.
When the potatoes are ready, we are going to prepare the sauce. To do this, we fry the onion in a pan. Before it starts to brown, add the bacon or bacon, previously cut into strips. And, when it is golden brown, add the cream.
This sauce will be the one with which we will accompany our potatoes.
If you cannot find Reblochón cheese, you can substitute it with another cheese that melts well.
Now that we have everything ready, we only have to prepare it to start baking. We grease a baking dish, preferably with butter. We peel the potatoes that will have already been tempered and we cut them in slices, not very thin. Place them on the dish and cover with the sauce we have prepared with the cream, onion and bacon. We can aromatize with a splash of wine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the cheese cut into slices, so that it melts more easily. Remember to remove the rind if you use the authentic Reblochón.
Bake in the oven at 180ºC for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese has melted completely and the top begins to brown. And that’s how simple it is to prepare this Tartiflette, or French fries with potatoes and bacon.
Ingredients
The authentic Tartiflette includes very few ingredients. But, as with all recipes, over time, more ingredients have been added to improve the recipe. You can also use your imagination and modify this recipe to make it to your liking. But there are some basic ingredients that cannot be missing, let’s see what they are.
- Reblochon cheese. This French cheese originates from Savoie, where this recipe comes from. It has had the French appellation of origin Contrôlée since 1958. It is a cow’s cheese, soft paste, with a slightly hazelnut flavor but powerful, as it is matured in champagne.
- Although you can find it in any specialized gourmet store, and also in many department stores, if you do not manage to get hold of it, you can always substitute it to make your own Tartiflette recipe. For example, to obtain a similar result we can substitute it with Brie cheese, with Camembert cheese…
- Boiled potatoes. Although the real protagonist of this recipe is the Reblochon cheese, use quality potatoes. They will also make the difference. Look for good potatoes, organic, full of flavor, since they are the base of this simple dish.
- Bacon, bacon or bacon. Whatever you choose, always cut it into strips. And don’t forget to fry it for a few minutes in the frying pan to give it much more flavor.
- Crème Fraîche. Although you will see that in the recipe we are going to substitute it for cream, the truth is that it is not the same. Crème fraîche can also be found in specialized food stores or in some supermarkets. It consists of a thick and smooth cream, also originally from France. It is made from cream and fermentation agents. The texture is denser than the cream we use for cooking, it would be more similar to whipped cream. But its flavor is not sweet, but rather somewhat acidic.
Would you like to try Tartiflette at home?
And these would be the main ingredients of this recipe. But, in the most recent versions, it can also include wine, which we can incorporate when baking or in the stir-fry with the onion and bacon.
Of course, don’t forget the pepper, which combines perfectly with this mixture of ingredients. And remember to let your imagination run wild to incorporate as many others as you like.
Original recipe for the authentic French Tartiflette
Now that we have seen the basic ingredients for the French Tartiflette and how it is prepared, let’s see the recipe step by step. This dish, so hearty and at the same time delicious, is very easy to prepare, so go ahead and prepare it yourself.
Tartiflette o Pastel de Patatas francés
Ingredients
- 4-5 Medium Potatoes
- 1 spring onion
- 200 ml Cream
- 300 g Sliced bacon
- 250 g Reblochon cheese
- 25 g Butter
- Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Pepper
Instructions
- We will begin by cooking the whole potatoes. For it, first we wash them well under the faucet, to remove all the earth that they bring. We put a wide pot (where they all fit), with enough water and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil and, as soon as it starts to boil, add the potatoes. Cook for 25-35 minutes, always depending on the size of the potatoes. Check that they are tender by pricking them with a toothpick. If it goes in easily, it means they are cooked. Take them out of the water and let them cool down so they are easy to handle while we continue with our recipe.
- Let's continue with the sofrito and the "sauce" of this recipe. Chop the spring onion as small as possible. In a frying pan put a drizzle of oil and, when it is hot, add the chives. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add a pinch of salt so that the spring onion releases all its juice.
- After this time, add the bacon or bacon, cut into strips. Cook together with the spring onion until it is ready (the spring onion must be very tender and the bacon golden brown). Add the cream, cook everything together for a couple of minutes and set aside.
- We need a baking dish suitable for the oven. First, we are going to grease it well with butter. We continue peeling the potatoes, cut them into slices not too thick or too thin. We place them in the dish and season with salt and pepper. We also add the "sauce" with the cream, bacon and chives and season to taste.
- Cover with slices of Reblochón cheese, having previously removed the rind, and bake for 20-30 minutes at 180ºC. After this time, check that it is golden on top and serve hot. Now we have a great French Tartiflette ready.
Origin of the Recipe
It is said that this recipe was invented by the Sindicato Interprofesional del Reblochón, in the 80’s, to make this type of cheese more famous. In this way they wanted to double the sales of Reblochón. The idea was born in an area of Savoy, the Aravis massif, a fiefdom of this cheese.
The recipe was a great success and soon all Savoyards felt that this recipe was their own.
Did you know that…
The name Tartiflette is a trademark registered by the Interprofessional Council of Reblochon, which means that the dish can only be so named if Reblochon cheese produced in the Savoie region has been used in its preparation.
Some versions of the Tartiflette
Although we have already seen that if we modify the recipe it would not be considered an authentic Tartiflette for the French, cooking is very free. So we can modify this recipe in many ways. For example, if we want a heartier dish, in addition to the bacon, we can incorporate minced meat. Add it to the sofrito with the onion, at the same time as the bacon or bacon. I assure you that it will be great.
Whether or not you find Reblochón cheese, if you want to give it a different touch, substitute it for another one of your liking. Or, prepare this potato casserole with gratin cheese with the cheese you like the most. Even with a combination of your favorites. But remember that it is always important that the cheese melts well. Other ingredients that are also very good, and provide a unique flavor or aroma, we can add garlic, white wine, any spice… There are also versions with Serrano ham instead of bacon. Or, if you prefer a lighter version, use mushrooms.
And with this we finish this delicious recipe of French Tartiflette, or French fries with cheese and bacon. A hearty dish, very easy to make and ideal to replenish energy. Serve it as a single dish, as it is more than enough for one meal. Or, if you prefer, combine it with a salad first. Something light and refreshing to avoid making a menu too heavy. Of course, don’t forget the bread, because I assure you that you will need it!
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