Gratin de Crozets au Beaufort

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While technically Savoyard, the gratin de crozets sits at the cultural crossroads where Burgundian gratin tradition meets Alpine cheese-making, and it appears on bouchon menus throughout the Rhône-Alpes region that encompasses Lyon. Crozets are tiny (1cm²) square buckwheat pasta — pâtes de sarrasin — unique to the Tarentaise valley, made from a dough of buckwheat flour (50-70%), wheat flour, eggs, and water, rolled thin and cut into precise squares. The buckwheat gives them a distinctive nutty, slightly earthy flavor and a texture that holds up magnificently to gratinating. The gratin technique layers cooked crozets (boiled in salted water for 15-18 minutes until al dente, then well-drained) with grated Beaufort d’alpage (summer cheese from high mountain pastures, aged minimum 8 months for optimal melting properties and concentrated flavor). The proportion is 300g Beaufort per 500g dry crozets. Each layer receives a few grinds of black pepper and nutmeg. Crème fraîche (200ml for 500g crozets) is poured over the top layer before a final generous blanket of grated Beaufort. The gratin bakes at 180°C for 25-30 minutes until the top forms a deeply golden, almost bronze crust with bubbling edges. The Beaufort’s high fat content (48%) and smooth-melting paste (no eyes, unlike Emmental) create a fondue-like sauce between the crozets without any béchamel — a testament to the cheese’s quality making elaborate saucing unnecessary. Traditionally served alongside diots (Savoyard sausages) or as a standalone winter dish.

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