rosti

Swiss potato cakes...

4 large potatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
butter (for frying)

Parboil the potatoes in their skin for five to ten minutes (this depends on their size- the larger they are the longer you leave them in). Allow to cool and then peel. You can do this quite easily by running a fork over the potatoes- The skin will come right off.

Grate the potatoes into a large bowl. Mix in a good amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat. Throw in the seasoned, shredded potatoes and pat/shape into a large round flat cake. Cook for 5 minutes and then flip the cake over- The easiest way I've found to do this is to put a plate, upside down onto the cake, turn the frying pan over while holding the plate. At this point to can put some more butter on the pan and then slide the cake from the plate back onto the pan. Keep cooking and flipping until both sides are a golden brown colour.

Serve. Can be eaten on it's own or with a nice large continental sausage (wurst) and mustard.

Alternatively you can portion/pack the shredded potato into poaching/ring moulds and make individual rostis. These are a lot easier to turn over.

Alternatives. The recipe shown is for the tradional rosti. I have had rosti's which have included sliced garlic, finely chopped onions, grated cheese and even lardons/pancetta. If you want to do this, just add the ingredient to the bowl with the shredded potato and mix well before turning it out onto the pan.

2 comments to this

sasha said on 06 Apr 2006 at 15:34:49:

I add a whisked egg to help the grated potato to stick together.

I bet the rosti would taste good even if cooked in olive oil rather than butter.

hem said on 18 May 2006 at 10:22:09:

sure you can use olive oil but it doesn't have that unctuous-ness (sorry having a Nigella moment there)