This is where tartiflette comes in.
It’s another cheese-coated carb, but with a tad more sophisticationit’s French, after all.
What is tartiflette?
While some cheese makers out offerpasteurized versionsin the likeness of reblochon, but theyre not exactly cheap.
If you dont like a bloomy rind, try port salut, havarti, or gouda.
If none of those vibe with you, just make yourself happy and use any melty cheese you like.
How to make an easy tartiflette
1.
Boil the potatoes
Like all comfort foods should be, tartiflette is actually fairly simple.
To start, boil some lightly salted water in a big pot.
Add peeled potatoes and boil them until theyre fork-tender.
If the potatoes are large, cut them in half first.
Drain the potatoes, and chop them into half-inch thick slices when cool.
Fry up the other ingredients
While your potatoes are boiling away, fry the lardons in a frying pan.
If you dont have lardons, you’re free to use pancetta, or chopped thick-cut bacon.
Fry them until theyre browned and crispy on the edges.
Remove the meat but leave the rendered fat in the pan.
Fry some chopped shallots and garlic in the pork fat until theyre soft and translucent.
Don’t waste that flavor.
Combine the ingredients
Put the cut potatoes in a large bowl.
(If you used bacon, this might be too much fat.
Cheese and bake
Now for my favorite part: the cheese.
Cut your wheel (or heart) of cheese in half equatorially.
Youre looking to make two circles with an exposed inside and an intact ring of rind.
Chop the other one up into half-inch chunks.
Dot the potato dish with hunks of cheese.
Drizzle some heavy cream all around the pan.
Tartiflette is what Ill call self-saucing.
Each tender potato is coated with cheese, and occasionally youll encounter a crispy, salty bite of pork.
Its truly a cheese lovers dish.
Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until fork-tender.
Drain them and cut them into 12-inch thick slices.
Set them aside in a large bowl.
In a medium frying pan, fry the bacon until crispy on the outside.
Gently fry the shallot and garlic in the pan with a pinch of salt.
Fry them until theyve softened and are translucent.
Toss the ingredients to combine them.
Pour the potato mixture into the baking vessel.
Cut the wheel of brie in half, equatorially so you have two circles of cheese.
Cut one up into 12-inch chunks and nestle them evenly amongst the potatoes.
Sprinkle the entire surface with a couple pinches of salt and a few cracks of pepper.
Press the remaining circle of cheese into the center of the dish, rind-side up.
Drizzle the cream all over the ingredients.
Let it cool for a couple minutes before serving.
