Super Simple #2 - Röschti (aka Rosti)

If the recipes on this blog are getting simpler and simpler, than there's a reason for it.

Being very busy these days with a full-time job during the day, a night-time job to finish up a DVD production and an upcoming move to Thailand, I'm relying a lot on quick and easy dishes.

But! They still have to taste good... and Röschti, another Swiss specialty, is a nice dish in many ways.

First of all, it's great to prepare if you have old potatoes that you're about to throw away because you can't think of any use for them anymore. As a matter of fact, this dish tastes better with old potatoes because they are much more dry which is exactly what you're after for preparing Röschti.

If you want to go the really simple way, all you need are old potatoes, butter, salt and pepper! I happened to have some leftover bacon in the fridge as well, and an onion, which makes this dish delicous!

Also, you can serve many kinds of foods with this dish. Great are sausages (Bratwurst), or veal cutlets on a creamy, lemony sauce with some parsley, or even just a simple sunnyside-up egg.


for 2 people:

Ingredients:

2-3 large (baked potato size) and preferrably old potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 slices of bacon, cut into small cubes
freshly ground salt and pepper


Instructions:

If you plan ahead, you can microwave the potatoes a day in advance. This is especially useful if your potatoes are pretty fresh and still wet inside. Having them sit around for an extra day after microwaving will make them more dry and more suitable for Röschti.

Worst case, you can still use fresh potatoes and microwave them just before cooking. Your Röschti just tends to become a bit mushy.

Peel your fully microwaved potatoes and grind them by hand using a rough grinder. In a non-stick skillet, heat the butter over medium heat, add the chopped onion and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the bacon and stir for another 2-3 minutes until the bacon has browned a bit. Increase the heat to high and add the potatoes. Cook them until overall browned a bit (don't burn them) while stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Reduce the heat to low and form the potatoes into a pie-looking shape. From now on, don't stir anymore. You want to get a nice and golden brown on the bottom side. To keep the potatoes warm on the upper side as well, put a serving plate upside-down on it. At the end, if you're not afraid to do so, flip the skillet upside-down while holding the plate with the other hand and your Röschti will already sit on a dish ready to serve!

Let the Röschti simmer for about 10-15 minutes to create that golden bottom. Also, it should really become like a pie, keeping its shape when you remove it from the skillet.

If you'd like to serve this with sausages, I can highly recommend the ones they sell at Surfas. Those are the best sausages in town I found so far. They're in the frozen section. Enjoy!

If you're interested in really quick and easy dishes, also check out this spaghetti recipe.