Start Your Week With This Giant Rösti Potato Pie

It’s rare that I’m not in the mood to eat potatoes. Even when perfectionist chefs and food blogs love to hate on “gooey” mashed potatoes, I look at that pile of burst starch molecules with nothing but love. My latest dip obsession is a three-ingredient masterpiece from Switzerland. It’s called rösti, and if you have potatoes, butter and salt, you’re already halfway there.

What is Rösti?

Rösti is a simple and satisfying dish of grated, salted potatoes fried in a pan. If you’re currently thinking about potato latkes or crispy hash browns , you’re on the right track, but think bigger and thicker. Rösti is a hearty flatbread made from puffed potatoes with a crispy crust, fried in butter. The shape is almost a wink to the Spanish tortilla, but this is straight up the potato business.

Rösti usually refers to cake-shaped fried potatoes, but surprisingly there is some wiggle room in the texture. I’ve tried rösti, which have the texture of mashed potatoes inside, as well as those that consist of noticeable independent strips of firm potatoes. I don’t care what anyone says, both of these textures are perfect and delicious.

This recipe below is a good balance between the two textures I mentioned. The inside is soft, but not mashed, and you can still make out the potato strips. The trick here is to boil the potatoes first. You can use raw grated potatoes for pancakes or latkes, but they are much thinner; their preparation requires less time. This cake is about an inch thick, and cooking that much raw potatoes without the outsides burning is possible, but it requires a lot more care. Using boiled potatoes speeds up the frying and allows you to prepare ahead of time. You can boil the potatoes the night before and store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to rösti.

How to cook Rösti

1. Boil and cool the potatoes

Add about four medium skinned potatoes to the pan. (Waxy potatoes will withstand this process best, but you can make it work with starchy ones.) Cover them with cool water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook the potatoes until a knife can be inserted into the center with slight force, about 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse the potatoes in cold water to stop cooking and refrigerate until chilled, at least two hours and up to two days.

2. Grind them

Once the potatoes have cooled, peel them and grate them using a large hole grater over a large bowl. You can use a food processor shredder for this, but I find it overkill for boiled potatoes. The machine may squish the shreds a little, so I recommend doing this by hand. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt over the bowl of potatoes and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle the zucchini with another pinch of salt and toss again.

3. Fry the rösti

In a skillet or cast iron skillet, melt two tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Rotate pan to coat. Add the potatoes and carefully form a mound into a thick patty. Fry the rösti for about 10 minutes until the bottom is browned. If you see the edges browning too quickly, reduce the heat.

4. Turn it over

Just like the Spanish tortilla, flipping it is the hardest part. I like to use a large wooden cutting board for this because I find the plates too slippery, the curved edge gets in the way, and I’m concerned about the high heat of the cast iron from the glass glaze.

Turn off the heat. Cover the potato cake in the pan with a piece of foil. (This will make it easier to move the cake back into the pan.) Place a cutting board on the pan. Place one hand on the cutting board and the other, with an oven mitt, under the bottom of the hot pan. Turn the entire appliance over in one fell swoop so that the cutting board is underneath the pan. Place it on the countertop and return the pan to the burner.

Add two more tablespoons of butter to the pan until melted. Using a spatula, transfer the rösti back to the pan – it’s okay if it’s not perfect. Turn the heat back to medium-low and cook the other side for another eight to ten minutes or until browned.

Using the same technique as before, invert the potato rosti onto a wire rack lined with the same cutting board. Let the pie cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy crispy and tender rösti as a side dish to a hearty roast or as a large platform for a couple of eggs with a runny yolk.

Potato rösti recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds potatoes

• 4 tablespoons butter

• ¾ teaspoon salt

1. Add potatoes with skins to the pan. Cover them with cool water and cook the potatoes for about 20-30 minutes until they are soft. Rinse the potatoes in cold water and place in the refrigerator until frozen.

2. Peel the cold potatoes and shred them using a large hole grater over a large bowl. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt over the bowl of potatoes and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle the last quarter teaspoon over the potatoes.

3. In a skillet or cast iron skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and carefully form a mound into a thick patty. Cook until bottoms are golden brown, about 10 minutes.

4. Transfer the rösti to a cutting board and add two more tablespoons of butter to the pan. Transfer the pie back to the pan and cook the other side for another eight to ten minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

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