Roesti - eighth new recipe of 2012

Rösti with onions and cheese

Roesti (also called Rösti) are a Swiss pancake.  They fall somewhere between a hash brown and a potato pancake.  The idea is that you grate potatoes and mix in some extras. I used gruyere cheese and onions, but a lot of people use bacon or sausages, and many recipes simply call for potatoes.

Boiled for 20 minutes

I started by boiling three large russet potatoes for about 20 minutes with the skins on.  This needs to be done in advance, and the idea is to keep the potatoes firm enough to grate, but also soft enough that they are mainly cooked.  I let them chill for three or four hours in the refrigerator, and next time, I'll probably leave them there overnight. 

Grated onions

I started out by grating a medium-sized onion.  I did this because I knew I was going to be using the grater for the cheese and the potatoes, and I didn't want huge chunks of onion that would take a while to cook.  I cooked the onions in a little bit of butter until they browned.  While they were cooking, I used a box grater to grate the potatoes on the largest setting.  I alternated between potatoes and a half-pound of gruyere cheese and mixed them together.

This is enough for two meal-sized rösti

I then melted a tablespoon of butter in a 8-inch skillet/crepe pan and put in half the potatoes, which wound up being filled up half an inch thick once I pressed it into place using a silicon spatula.  The idea is to press it down just enough so you can flip it once the bottom side browns.   I then salted the top and ground some fresh pepper on the top.

I cooked it like this until the edges browned

The next step is to put a plate over the pan and flip it over.  I found a plate that fit inside the pan.  It should fit fairly tightly.

Hold your breath and flip it!

Ready to go back into the pan

The final step is to melt a little butter and fry the other side.  You then slide the rösti back into the pan and cook it until the other side browns.

I'll definitely cook this again some time.  The main changes I'll make will probably be to boil the potato a little less, use a little less cheese, cook it a little more slowly (so the inside gets done a little more.)  I also might add bacon, which would be really good with the potato and cheese.