Recipe: Ollie Dabbous' tartiflette

Taken from Essential by Ollie Dabbous (Bloomsbury Publishing, £30)

 

Tartiflette is a French mountain dish of potatoes with bacon, onions, cream and a whole Reblochon cheese. This is probably your recommended weekly calorific intake in a single bowl, but it is the sort of dish you eat just once a year. And well worth it. Maybe plan a long walk for afterwards, or beforehand, to build up an appetite. Actually, definitely have the walk first as, realistically, you’ll be asleep within minutes of your last mouthful.

 

Reblochon is a washed rind cheese, and you need that pungency to cut through the bacon and the cream. No need to peel the potatoes, as the skins add taste and texture here.

 

This is most definitely a meal in itself; serve with a crisp green salad in a sharp mustardy dressing.

• 1kg Charlotte potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled, sliced 1cm thick
• 1tsp fine sea salt
• 200g Alsace bacon, or pancetta,
• or smoked streaky bacon, chopped into 1cm lardons
• 30g salted butter
• 2 white onions, sliced
• 250g white wine
• 300g double cream
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed, plus
• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 1 Reblochon cheese

 

Season the potatoes evenly with the salt, then place in a single layer in a steamer basket.

 

Steam over a pan of boiling water for 20 minutes until just cooked through.

 

In this time, colour the lardons in the butter until golden and the bacon fat has rendered. Strain through a sieve, reserving the fat.

 

Return the fat to the pan and add the onions, season lightly with salt and fry until light golden: about five minutes.

 

Return the bacon to the pan, then pour in the wine.

 

Bring to the boil, then add the cream and boil for two minutes. Remove from the heat and add the crushed garlic, followed by the steamed potatoes. Leave to cool to room temperature.

 

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

 

Meanwhile, cut the cheese. First, cut a thin round from the top of the whole cheese, about one-third of its total depth. Slice the rest into 1cm slices.

 

Rub a round ovenproof dish with the halved garlic clove, then spoon in a layer of potatoes, followed by a layer of cheese. Repeat twice more, finishing with the cheese disc on top.

 

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then glaze under a preheated grill until golden and bubbling. Serve.

 

Photography by Joakim Blockström