Tartiflette: Comfort in a Casserole

Tartiflette

As comfort foods go, I am all about potatoes.  From country style mashed potatoes to the gooey, buttery aligot of La Petite Périgourdine, nothing says love like starchy goodness. While living in France, I found an abundance of beautiful pommes de terre in the markets, shops and restaurants.  One dish in particular touched a heartstring…Tartiflette…it was so similar to the scalloped potatoes my mother used to make for Easter dinner.  Scalloped potatoes are the only thing my daughter asks for at Easter…if the Easter Bunny could deliver, she’d ask him for a basket of scalloped potatoes.

My mother’s recipe harkens from our Alsatian roots and is full of cream and herbs.  Over the years, I have adapted the recipe, adding onions and sometimes ham or bacon. 

Come the cold days of winter and early spring, tartiflette pops up on every café and bistrot menu, calling out to your soul, in search of something warm and homey.  I found myself returning to Le Montebello restaurant, just across the river from Notre Dame.  Their potato dish often soothed a homesick heart, or fueled a day of trekking about Paris.

With a tip of the hat to my own scalloped potato recipe and a nod of the head to Montebello’s stratified pommes, here is Tartiflette de Paris.

Ingredients

¼ pound thick sliced apple wood smoked bacon, cut into ½ inch dice

1 leek, sliced, washed, and dried

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

8 ounces Reblochon or Emmantaler cheese, shredded

1 cup chicken broth           

½ cup half and half

½ cup dry white wine

3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes,  thinly sliced ( you amy peel the potatoes if you prefer)

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed into 8 pieces

2 tsp. fresh thyme

1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg

½ tsp. white pepper

1 ¼ tsp. kosher salt

Method

Preheat oven to 425*F.  Grease a 2 qt casserole dish or 9 x 13 baking dish with butter and set aside.

 In a sauce pan, bring to a simmer over medium heat , broth, half and half, thyme, white pepper and nutmeg.  Reduce to low and simmer for 10 minutes.  Strain into a measuring cup.

Cook bacon in a frying pan over medium –low heat for about 12 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the crisped  bacon to a paper towel lined dish; set aside.  Remove and discard all but 1 tbsp. of bacon fat from the pan. 

Increase heat to medium adding leeks and onions and salt to the fry pan.  Sauté for 15 minutes or until the onions become soft and golden.  Stir frequently.

Remove the onion mixture from pan to a small mixing bowl.

Add reserved bacon to the onion mixture, tossing lightly to well incorporate.

Deglaze the sauce pan with white wine, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add these drippings to the reserved broth mixture.

In the prepared casserole/ baking dish, place a layer of sliced potatoes, which are slightly overlapping each other.

Top that layer with half the onion/bacon mixture.

Repeat layering and finish with a layer of potatoes.

Carefully pour the wine-broth- ½ and ½ mixtures over the layers.

Dot the surface with butter.

Place dish on a foil lined sheet pan.

Bake uncovered in the lower middle position of the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and sprinkle with a even layer of shredded cheese.

Return to the oven for 15-20 minutes more, or until the potatoes are tender, cheese is browned and most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes to fully absorb any remaining liquid.

Garnish with some fresh thyme leaves and cracked black pepper.

Serve with a green salad, crusty bread and a Alsatian Riesling like a 2007 or 2009 Trimbach .

Bon Appétit!