Morbiflette is a potato gratin on steroids! The Morbier cheese is melted on top of a creamy, winy, and aromatic bed of potatoes. It’s a pure delight for cheese lovers!
If you’ve ever had a tartiflette on a ski trip in the French Alps and thought life couldn’t get any better, allow me to introduce you to its lesser-known but arguably more impressive cousin: the Morbiflette. Same soul-warming concept; creamy potatoes, white wine, lardons, and a blanket of melted cheese, but swap the Reblochon for Morbier and suddenly you’re in completely different, more complex territory. This is the kind of dish that makes you want to book a chalet in the Franche-Comté immediately.
Morbier Cheese’s Origin
Morbier is a semi-soft, raw cow’s milk cheese from the Franche-Comté region of eastern France, recognizable by the thin dark line of vegetable ash running through its centre. That ash layer is not just for show; it has a fascinating origin story. Traditionally, cheesemakers would press the morning’s leftover curds into a mould, cover them with a layer of ash to protect against insects overnight, and then add the evening’s curds on top the following day. The result is a cheese with a gorgeous ivory paste, a washed rind that smells earthy and funky, and a flavour that is creamy, fruity, and distinctly mineral. It melts beautifully, which makes it absolutely perfect for this dish.
Tips for the perfect Morbiflette
Use a waxy potato like Charlotte or Nicola; they hold their shape during cooking instead of turning to mush. Don’t skip the white wine; it adds an essential depth to the cream sauce. And when it comes to the Morbier, slice it thickly and lay it skin-side up on top so the rind crisps up slightly in the oven while the paste underneath melts into a glorious puddle. Serve immediately; this is not a dish that waits.
Alternative Ingredients
The traditional recipe contains bacon bits, which you fry with the onions first. If you fancy bacon, go ahead! You could also use lovely small pieces of sausage.
To Serve
It’s served in a 20 cm clay pot and is a full main meal. In France, they eat Morbiflette or tartiflette as an appetizer (10 cm pots) next to a green salad. It pairs perfectly with caperberries, olives, pickles, marinated onions, etc.
Other Gratin Meals
Morbiflette
Ingredients
- 4 Morbier cheese (slices of 2-3mm thick)
- 6 potatoes
- 2 onions (finely sliced)
- 45 ml heavy cream
- 3 tbsp white wine (*optional)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp thyme (fresh branch would be ideal)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in water until tender. (I keep the skin and peel after, but you can just take it off before.)
- In a pan, melt the butter, add the onion, wine, thyme, salt and pepper, and reduce the onion to medium-high heat until soft.
- *optional: at this point, if you want the fresh bacon bits, make them, high heat, in the pan.
- Cut thick slices of the cooked potatoes, add the onion, cream, *fresh bacon bits, nutmeg, salt, pepper and the famous slices of Morbier on top.
- Grill in the oven at 210°C (350F°) for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
