These confit potatoes pavé have got to be the most naughty and decadent potatoes that you can make!
Scalloped potatoes are layered and slow roasted in a duck fat confit until tender, then pressed overnight to form beautiful layers.
Next, the potatoes are cut into slices and deep fried to crispy golden perfection.
Delicious as an alternative to chips or roast potatoes, these are well worth the wait.
I promise you will absolutely love them.
Bon appétit!
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With prices rising everywhere I believe that many people are eating out less to save money. However, that doesn't mean that you can't have restaurant quality food at home at a fraction of the cost.
This scalloped potato dish is rich and luxurious, but you only need a small portion and you can freeze any leftovers for another meal.
The ingredients are so simple and you don't need to use duck fat either, (which is actually healthier than you think). You can make so you can make these at any time with store cupboard ingredients.
Perfect for a romantic meak for two, a treat for yourself or a special occasion, these potatoes pavé take the humble potato to a whole new level.
❤️ Why you will love this dish
- Simple ingredients.
- Easy to prepare and cook.
- Make in advance.
- Can be frozen before deep frying.
- Oven bake if you prefer.
- Perfect for entertaining or a special occasion.
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🤔 FAQs
The verb confire means to preserve or conserve and was often used to describe the process of preserving.
Meat was preserved often by slow cooking in fat and then using fat as a seal to preserve the meat. This is known as a confit.
Duck confit is probably the best known confit dish, using a mixture of salt and fat to preserve the meat. Duck is extremely fatty, so when it's cooked slowly all of the fat renders away. Traditionally the duck was then placed in bowl and completely submerged in the fat.
In this way the meat would keep for several weeks in a cool place or for several months in the refrigerator. Indeed, duck confit is widely available in supermarkets in huge tins. It always made sense to have one on standby when we were travelling, to make sure that we always had a meal if we arrived when the shops were shut, as was often the case!
Of course, this way of preserving isn't required so much when we have access to a fridge, however, it's still a great cooking technique.
Cooking food slowly in its own or added fat, keeps meat and vegetables very tender and ultimately removes most of the fat before eating too, as is the case for pork confit too.
The verb can also refer to make sweets with sugar, this is known as confiserie. Jam, or fruit conserve is known as confiture.
In the Uk we tend to boil, mash, deep fry, bake and roast potatoes, but the French are much more creative, with potatoes baked in cream or in stock, cut into different shapes and fried or roasted.
Have a read of the post on French potato recipes to see the full range or see the more recipes section.
People often believe that duck fat is bad for you as we are often advised to remove the fat from chicken.
Whilst it is not exactly a superfood it does contain a good level of monunsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and also vitamins and minerals. These fats can help to lower cholesterol.
In comparison to coconut oil it is much healthier, but it still not as healthy as olive oil.
🥘 Ingredients
- Potatoes - Maris piper is a good all round potato which is good for mashing, roasts and chipping. I tend to buy this variety all year round.
- Fat - duck fat for traditional confit. I tend to keep duck fat from roasting a whole duck or from frying duck, but it is available in tin or jars in most supermarkets.
- Salt - cooking or kosher salt for slow cooking the potatoes and flaked sea salt to serve.
- Pepper - freshly ground black pepper.
- Oil - vegetable oil or canola oil suitable for deep frying.
The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.
🍽 Equipment
- Food processor or mandolin for slicing - or just use a sharp knife
- Chopping board
- 1.3 litre rectangular terrine or 900g / 2 lb loaf tin
- Aluminium foil
- Baking parchment
- Mixing bowl
- Large oven tray
🔪 Instructions
Peel and finely slice the potatoes in a food processor or use a knife or mandolin.
Melt the duck fat in a saucepan or in the microwave and place in a mixing bowl with the potatoes, salt and pepper.
Line the terrine with baking parchment.
Layer the potatoes evenly.
💭 Top Tip
- If the terrine tin has removable sides it is best to line the tin with foil first as the duck fat will drain out of the tin.
Cover the tin with foil and place on an oven tray.
⏲️ Baking Time
Preheat the oven to 150 C / 300 F / 130 FAN / Gas 2 and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Check with a skewer that the potatoes are tender.
Leave to cool, then use some heavy items such as tins to flatten the potatoes.
Place in the fridge overnight to firm up.
When you are ready to fry the potatoes unwrap from the parchment and cut into 8 slices.
⏲️ Frying time.
Preheat the deep fat fryer to 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 and fry the confit potatoes pavé in batches for about 4 minutes until crisp and golden.
Serve 2 slices as a portion and scatter with sea salt.
Enjoy!
🥗 Serve with
Confit potatoes pavé go with any main course dish but they go particularly well with beef dishes.
- Bavette Steak
- Jacob's Ladder Beef
- Pheasant with Wild Mushroom Sauce
- Pork Confit
- Cod Cheeks and Chorizo
- Salmon Meunière
- Roast Partridge
- Chicken en Croûte
- Duck with Orange Sauce
- Chicken Supreme
- Chateaubriand
- Cannon of Lamb
🥙 Substitutions
- Duck fat - use goose fat or butter instead.
📖 Variations
- Roasted confit potatoes pavé - instead of deep frying the potatoes brush the potato slices with oil or butter and roast at 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6 for 30 to 40 minutes until golden
🍣 Storage
- Refrigerator - keep unfried or fried potatoes in the fridge in a covered container for up to 3 days.
- Freezer - freeze unfried or fried potatoes for up to a month.
- To reheat - reheat fried potatoes in the oven or deep fry as normal.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Cook the potatoes in the oven and leave in the fridge for up to 3 days before frying.
Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais
More French potato recipes to try
📋 Recipe
Confit Potatoes Pavé
Equipment
- Food processor or mandolin for slicing - or just use a sharp knife
- chopping board
- 1.3 litre rectangular terrine or 900g / 2 lb loaf tin
- Aluminium foil
- Baking parchment
- Mixing bowl
- Large oven tray
Ingredients
- 800 g potatoes floury
- 80 g duck fat
- 1 teaspoon cooking salt
- 1 teaspoon flaked sea salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Peel and finely slice the potatoes in a food processor or use a knife or mandolin.
- Melt the duck fat in a saucepan or in the microwave and place in a mixing bowl with the potatoes,salt and pepper. Mix well
- Line the terrine with baking parchment and layer the potatoes evenly. Cover the tin with foil and place on an oven tray.
- Preheat the oven to 150 C / 300 F / 130 FAN / Gas 2 and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check with a skewer that the potatoes are tender.
- Leave to cool, then use some heavy items such as tins to flatten the potatoes. Place in the fridge overnight to firm up.
- When you are ready to fry the potatoes unwrap from the parchment and cut into 8 slices.
- Preheat the deep fat fryer to 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 and fry the confit potatoes pavé in batches for about 4 minutes until crisp and golden.
- Serve immediately scattered with the sea salt.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article.
More French side dishes
Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties.
However, due to spam comments, I do have to moderate each one, so don't worry if you cannot see your comment immediately. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can.
Amanda
Hi Susan, That's no problem. Slice the potatoes and brush with butter or oil and roast at 200 C for 40-50 minutes until golden. They won't be exactly the same but very close. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks,
Amanda
Susan Kay
This recipe looks and sounds delicious. Sadly I don’t have a deep fat fryer. Is there any other way that I could crisp these up, perhaps bake them ?
Amanda
Hi Rachna. Butter is absolutely fine to use. The taste will be slightly different but still delicious. Thanks,
Amanda
Alison Saalbach Corey
Wow! Fantastic Recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Gina Abernathy
A great and new potato recipe. You had me at fried potatoes!
Rachna
They look absolutely gorgeous! I am a potato lover. Is it okay if I use butter in place of duck fat?
Beth
Such an indulgent and delicious potato recipe. Perfect for dinner parties!
Savita
This is an amazing way to put potatoes into use, the recipe turned out absolutely delicious and crispy.
Toni
This turned out really amazing! I will definitely make it again! Thanks for the recipe!
Dana
These crispy potato-y bundles are SO GOOD. This was a real treat.
Tayler Ross
These flaky potatoes are my absolute favorite! The duck fat makes all the difference in this recipe!
Elaine
This is one dish that I've never tried, and it does not happen often. So I am very excited about his weekend 😉
Andrea
Oh my! I think I've found my new favorite way to prepare potatoes. Thank you so much for this recipe.