Rosti (potato pancake)

This recipe is for my dad who misses the rostis my mum used to make but has so far been unsuccessful in his attempts to recreate them. There are many ways to rosti a potato – purists would have you boil them first and leave to rest overnight before peeling and grating; others would urge you to add egg or flour to bind the mixture; and one website even manages to suggest a Salmon Rosti without once making a cheap pun about ‘The Satanic Verses’. Incredible.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Skill level: easy

Ingredients

• starchy potatoes – 1 kg
• butter – 100g
• s & p

Coarsely grate the potatoes and place in the centre of a (preferably clean) tea towel.

Bring together the corners of the tea towel and twist as tightly as you can to remove all the water possible. Repeat this squeezing with a second dry tea towel.

Place in a bowl and season well with salt and pepper.

(At this stage you could add grated onion and/or fresh herbs)

Now to the most important decision – whether to make one big fat rosti, or several smaller, thinner ones. Childhood rostis were the latter, so that’s what we’ll be doing here.

Melt some of the butter in a large heavy frying pan and once the buttery foam has subsided spoon in the potato to form several cakes – use those fancy metal rings if you are feeling chefy. Compact each rosti with the back of a spatula.

Cook on a lowish heat for 7-10 minutes or until the underside is golden brown and crispy. Flip over (add more butter if necessary) and repeat for a further 7-10 minutes.

Serve with what ever takes your fancy.

If making one big fat rosti use a 9 inch diameter pan and cook for a bit longer.

Verdict: Just like dear ol’ mum used to make.

Drink: Hmm, our first night off the booze since the pre-Christmas warm up sometime back in November.

Entertainment: MASTERCHEF IS BACK!!!!