Croziflette: The Classic French Cheesy Pasta Bake

Croziflette is a classic French cheesy pasta bake from the Savoy region made with typical square pasta called crozets along with reblochon cheese, bacon, onion and crème fraîche.

Croziflette is a very traditional dish associated with Savoy which you can find in basically every restaurant in the French Alps, along with its potato-based cousin tartiflette.

The mix of pasta with creamy crème fraîche, smoky bacon, salty pungent reblochon cheese and sweet onion makes for an absolutely delicious combination that's also just so simple to make.

It really exemplifies a core tenant of French cuisine which is that good cooking is about simple high quality ingredients. I can get behind that.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Instructions
• Making Ahead & Reheating
• Serving Suggestion
• Related
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

What traditionally goes into croziflette?

• Crozets: Square pasta from the Savoy region of France.
• Reblochon: A soft raw wheel-shaped cow's milk cheese with a creamy texture and pungent aroma.
• Lardons: Cubed pieces of slab bacon.
• Crème fraîche: Cream that's been soured with a bacterial culture.
• Yellow onion.
• Salt and black pepper.

What are crozets?

Croziflette is made with the typical square pasta of the Savoy region called crozets.

The brand most often available outside France is Alpina Savoie, which is what's used in this recipe.

Crozets come in two versions: made with either regular wheat flour (les crozets nature) or made with buckwheat flour (les crozets au sarrasin).

Buckwheat flour is very typical of the Savoy region. For example, you can find savory buckwheat crepes in basically every ski town in the French Alps.

This recipe is made with traditional buckwheat crozets but you can easily substitute regular wheat flour crozets.

And of course they have that characteristic square shape as you can see in this close up photo of just the crozets.

The shape of crozets isn't just a fun novelty. The shape actually adds to the dish in at least two ways.

For one, since they basically lay on top of each other in one layer they eliminate big air pockets, thereby giving the dish a really hearty mouthfeel.

And two, even in one layer the shape still leaves little channels for the molten reblochon to flow into so it can penetrate throughout the dish. Perfection.

I really recommend using crozets but if you can't find them then maybe orzo would work or otherwise you could try making your own pasta for crozets.

Reblochon

The beauty of reblochon for a gratinéed dish like croziflette is that it's basically liquid on the inside but has a firm and robust rind. When baked, the inside basically melts into the pasta filling all the crevices with cheese. The firm rind stays on top of the pasta and becomes a crisp crust.

It's possible you may not be able to find reblochon.

Since reblochon is a raw cheese it is not available in countries where there are strict regulations regarding pasteurization. Reblochon is not available in the United States for example.

A good substitute is raclette, which is a semi-hard Alpine cow's milk cheese. I've also seen certain recipes made with another Alpine cheese called Beaufort, which is similar in flavor and texture to Gruyere.

Lardons

Lardons are basically streaky bacon cut into a different shape. They come from the same cut (the slab) and it's prepared the same way (smoked). Lardons are cut into small cubes that are a bit thicker than streaky bacon - this makes them very good for rendering down while retaining a bit of meatiness.

Lardons are interchangeable with Italian panchetta, which is a good substitute. If you can't find either then you can just use regular streaky bacon cut into strips.

Crème fraîche

Crème fraîche is a creamy dairy product similar in appearance to sour cream but it behaves very differently when cooked. Since crème fraîche has a higher fat content than sour cream, it melts when heated rather than curdling.

It's really essential to making croziflette and can't be substituted with sour cream.

Yellow Onion

Onion isn't always included in croziflette. For example the sample recipe on the Alpina Savoie box doesn't include onion at all.

But the onion really adds a lot so I'd recommend including it unless you can't eat alliums.

When the onion is sautéed with the lardons it brings out its sweetness. This hint of sweetness really adds to the overall flavor profile of the dish. Smoky bacon and sweet onion is a classic combination for good reason.

Equipment

You will need an oven safe roasting pan or casserole. Ceramic is a good choice but personally I prefer cast iron since it browns and crisps up the edges so nicely.

I used a Staub cast iron oval roasting dish which is 24 cm / 9.4 inches at its longest point. No lid necessary.

Instructions

Start by putting the crozets to boil in salted water. Be sure not to over-salt the water - about a teaspoon per liter (4 cups) should be enough. There are a lot of salty ingredients in this dish and you don't want to overdo it.

While the crozets are boiling you'll pre-sauté the onion and lardons.

Doing a quick pre-sauté of the onion and lardons will render and crisp up the bacon while also reducing and browning the onion.

Both the onion and lardons are caramelized which introduces a lot of flavor.

After sautéing the lardons and onion, you just mix all the ingredients together and top with sliced reblochon.

I chose to do thin slices but how you slice the reblochon is a bit of a stylistic choice.

Some people also slice straight through the middle of it (as if cutting a bun to make a sandwich) and then place each piece (cut side down) onto the pasta.

This method also looks nice but my preference is slices because I like the texture the rind has when baked this way.

Pro tip: Pop the reblochon in the freezer while the crozets are boiling to firm it up and make it easier to slice.

Once you've covered the crozets with the reblochon it can all go in the oven where some crazy alchemical magic happens honestly.

If you taste it before baking it's delicious, but what comes out of the oven is mind blowing.

Making Ahead & Reheating

If you like you can make the crozets ahead and mix them with all the ingredients then just top with reblochon when ready to bake.

To reheat you can either pop in the microwave for a few minutes or reheat in the oven - 10-12 minutes at 185 C / 365 F should do it.

Serving Suggestion

Croziflette is quite rich so it pairs well with a fresh element.

When a French friend recently served tartiflette at a dinner party, he served it with cornichons. Cornichons would go really well on the side of croziflette as well.

A simply dressed salad with a nice acid element would likewise be a good pairing.

Related

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