The recipe for Matafan (or matefaim) with bacon

“Who puts down hunger”
A very simple recipe (cupboard cooking)

A dish that we ate at my grandparents’ house (a Savoyard grandfather), then at my parents’ house and now at home (my children love it). When cooking is a family affair! It’s a very simple recipe, cupboard cuisine par excellence: a large thick salted pancake with cheese and bacon. A rustic dish (it’s an old peasant recipe) to make in the evening, to accompany a green salad. Perfect for satisfying your hungry people (Matafan, meaning to suppress hunger).

THE INGREDIENTS OF MATAFAN:

Serves 4 to 5

20 cl milk
150 g flour
4 eggs
about 100 g grated cheese (comté, emmenthal beaufort)
about 150 gr of bacon
1 pinch of nutmeg, salt, pepper

THE RECIPE FOR MATAFAN:

Mix the flour, eggsand milk (into a very thick pancake batter). Then the grated cheese
Add a pinch of nutmeg (optional). Season with salt (be careful if your bacon is smoked) and pepper
Blanch the bacon for a few minutes in boiling water
Heat a little oil (or duck fat) in a non-stick pan and pour in the mixture
Cook over low heat without stirring the preparation (just peeling off the edges with a spatula) and let it set
When it comes off the pan and the bottom is golden, sprinkle bacon on top of the dough (which is not yet set and is a little runny)
Slide the pan into the oven at 180° (or the patty onto a baking dish) and finish cooking
Enjoy hot with a salad

TRICKS:

1 – You can replace the bacon with small pieces of white or raw ham
2 – You can also continue cooking in a pan after turning the preparation over but it will be less puffy than in the oven