Tartiflette

For luxury comfort food, revisit this French alpine classic made with potatoes, cheese and bacon

recipe BARNEY DESMAZERY photograph HANNAH TAYLOR-EDDINGTON

SERVES 6 PREP 30 mins COOK 50 mins MORE EFFORT

Why

Toss potatoes, cream, bacon, alpine cheese and onions together in almost any way, and the end result will be a comfort food winner. For our version of tartiflette, an aprés-ski meal from the French Alps, we didn’t want to simply create an even richer dauphinoise – we wanted a noticeably different dish that celebrated the ritual of shopping for the right ingredients and applying just the right cooking methods to them, even if it requires a bit more effort. It’s worth it though, as you’ll see if you try this recipe, where everything is at its best.

What To Buy

15g unsalted butter

140g smoked bacon lardons or cubed pancetta

1 large onion, finely sliced

1kg waxy potatoes, such as Charlotte or Désirée

100ml non-alcoholic dry white wine

100ml crème fraîche grating of nutmeg

1 wheel of reblochon (about 250g), chilled

½ garlic clove

To serve cornichons bitter leaf salad (see tip, right)

SLICE AND DICE

To ensure there’s an even amount of cheese distributed through the potatoes, we’ve diced half of it and nestled the other half on top to melt over the dish as it bakes.

Crispy Bacon

Unlike other recipes that require you to cook the onions before the bacon, we’ve crisped the bacon first – this renders out all the fat, which can then be used to cook everything else.

A TOUCH OF SMOKE

Smoked bacon or pancetta is a must for this recipe to add smoky flavour notes and season the dish.

A Simple Salad

Tartiflette is a meal in itself, but it’s rich, so a sharp, dressed salad makes the perfect accompaniment. Choose peppery, bitter leaves such as watercress, rocket, treviso or chicory. For the dressing, whisk together vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard and 5 tbsp olive oil

The Cheese To Choose

For a true tartiflette, seek out reblochon – a soft, mediumflavoured, seasonal French alpine cheese. If you can’t find it, use port salut, Pont l’Évêque or Italian taleggio instead.

Warming Spice

We’ve toasted black pepper along with the onions, which brings the dish alive. A small amount of nutmeg is also a great warming seasoning for dairy-based dishes.

How To Make It

1 Melt the butter in a large frying or cast iron pan over a medium heat and stir in the bacon lardons or pancetta. Fry for 5-8 mins until starting to crisp up and the fat has rendered. Season with 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper and cook for about 1 min more to toast the pepper, then stir in the onions. Season with a pinch of salt, then continue to cook for another 5-8 mins until the onions are soft but not too deeply coloured.

2 Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into slices about the width of 2.8mm. When the onions are ready, tip the potatoes into the pan and cook everything for 10 mins, tossing regularly until the potatoes are nearly cooked through and have taken on a bit of colour.

3 Carefully pour in the non-alcoholic wine and bubble for 5 mins, still tossing the pan occasionally, until it has reduced completely and the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove from the heat, spoon over the crème fraîche and grate over a small amount of nutmeg. Stir everything together so the potatoes are completely coated in the crème fraîche.

Off The Boil

4 Cut the cheese in half through the equator so you have two thinner rounds. Chop one of the rounds into small chunks, then stir these through the potato mixture. Sprinkle a little salt into a medium gratin dish, then rub the cut side of the garlic clove all over the inside of the dish. Discard the garlic. Scrape the potato mixture into the dish, then nestle the other cheese round, rind-side up, onto the top of the mixture. At this stage, the tartiflette will keep up to a day ahead. Cover and chill until needed, then remove from the fridge 1 hr before cooking

5 Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 8. Bake the tartiflette for 20-25 mins until the cheese is oozing and golden, and the mixture is bubbling at the edge. Leave to stand for 5 mins, then serve with cornichons and a bitter leaf salad.

FONDUE FEELING

Though we’re not boiling our potatoes, adding a splash of wine creates steam to cook them and flavours the cheese like a fondue.