Tartiflette

Cheese, cheese, cheese.

As you probably have noticed by now I haven’t often posted savoury recipes. But when I have done, they have all been about cheese: Cheesy Biscuit Bites, Cheese and Rosemary Scones and the Fondue Savoyarde. The sheer variety of cheese there is out there makes it one of the most versatile and glorious food you can use. And none other than the French have the tastiest cheese recipes. Recipes that truly showcase this awesome food. And Tartiflette does just that to the beautiful Reblochon.

Not only did we bring the cheeses needed to make a delicious Fondue, but we also brought ourselves and my in-laws a humongous disk of Reblochon, which is another cheese typical of the Haute-Savoie region (you can easily find it in the UK nowadays).

To make this dish even more delicious- is that possible?! – we made it with our own homegrown potatoes! They were fantastically fluffy and tasted so…well so potatoey, if you see what I mean? This was the first year we grew our own and it was so easy, according to Christoph who is the Garden Master, and really worth it. So if you have ever thought about doing it but were unsure, I would say go for it, it’s awesome!

Recipe

Ingredients:

1.5kg potatoes
1 large onion (or 2 smaller ones)
200g smoked bacon lardons
1 Reblochon (about 450/500g)
2 tbsp of creme fraîche
1 clove of garlic

Pre-heat oven 220c/gas 7

Peel the potatoes (we didn’t do this as our homegrown ones had a very very thin skin so we left it and it was delicious just like that), slice them and put them to boil.

Slice the onions. In a pan on medium heat add some oil and slowly fry the onion. You want it to go clear not brown. After a few minutes add the lardons and continue to cook for a few more minutes.

Meanwhile keep an eye on your potatoes as you don’t want them to cook completely and be soft. They need to be still a little bit firm as they will finish cooking in the oven. Drain them and leave it for a few minutes to air dry a little.

Take your ovenproof dish and rub it with the garlic (optional). Then all you have to do is layer the potatoes, then the onion and lardon mix and again the potatoes, then onion and lardons etc. until all your ingredients are in, seasoning to taste as you go along and then spread the creme fraîche on top.

Grab your Reblochon and cut it in half sideways. Add both Reblochon parts to the top of the dish. IMPORTANT: make sure that you put them skin side down!

Bake in the oven for about 15-20min.

We had it with a homemade Soda Bread and a green salad with French dressing. It was truly delicious!

Do you love cheese? If so what is your favourite cheese and how do you eat it? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Xoxo

P.S: I’ve been writing this post for over a week now! I keep starting and then having to stop to do other more pressing tasks and then suddenly it being too late! So my apologies for the long period between posts!