Serves: Makes 6
There are many ways to make potato rosti but this is my favourite. I’m not a great fan of the raw grated versions which lack flavour and taste, well, raw. The key is in cooking the whole potatoes: too little and the raw flavour is still evident: too much and you end up with a fluffy potato cake which is delicious but not really a rosti. I try and buy waxy potatoes for the rosti but they are not that easy to find in the UK. We seem to like floury varieties here whereas in France it was the opposite; lots of waxy potatoes but nary a floury spud. I never made a decent roast potato in almost 7 years of living there.
Ingredients
- 730g potatoes, about 4 medium-sized ones
- 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil, plus extra for greasing
- 20g butter
Method
- Leave the potatoes whole and unpeeled and put in a saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down slightly and simmer for about 16-18 minutes. If you have smaller potatoes test them after 15 minutes. A knife inserted into the centres should go through with a little resistance. It is better to err on the underdone side. Drain the potatoes and leave to cool. When cold refrigerate for at least one hour (preferably 3-4).
- Coarsely grate the potatoes into a mixing bowl. Don’t worry about little bits of skin but discard the larger piece of skin that you tend to be left with at the end of grating. Season with a scant teaspoon of Maldon salt and some ground black pepper.
- Lightly grease 3 ring moulds (mine are 9cm diameter). Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 10g butter in a frying pan and place the ring moulds in the pan. Pile the potato into each ring mould, pressing down slightly. When you have a neat round, lift off each ring mould. Turn the heat down to low and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Carefully flip the rosti over and cook for a further 5-6 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a baking tray and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining rosti in the same way, heating the remaining tablespoon of oil and 10g butter.
