Rösti is a potato-based dish of Swiss origin. Rösti, in Swiss German, means “crisp and golden.”
It is similar to American hash browns. But Rösti is a cooked giant pancake style, it tends to be thicker than other potato pancake varieties, like a giant crispy potato cheese fritter. This gives them a creamy and smooth interior. Crisp on the outside, soft and meltingly, within.
Grated potatoes are mixed with sautéed onions and pan-fried until crisp and golden, covered with a generous layer of cheese (optionally also with smoked sausage, ham or bacon) until a good aroma wafts out of the pan. Onion has a crispier texture and stronger flavour than potatoes, creating a much-needed balance, which makes this rösti potato more appealing than the plain version.
Rösti was originally served for breakfast, but it is often served as a side dish nowadays. It also works great as a main course, especially if you are a potato lover.
You can use American-made “Swiss” cheese, but if you splurge on a more flavourful Swiss or French Gruyère, you’ll have a more authentic dinner, and your taste buds will thank you.
This versatile dish also can be topped with an egg and served with a salad for brunch or dinner or alongside a steak or other red meat for a satisfying main course.
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Ingredients
Parboil the potatoes
- 1 kg Potato - about 250-300 g / 8.8-10 oz per person
- 1 tsp Salt - or to taste
Sauté onion
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Onion - minced
- Salt - to taste
- Black pepper - freshly ground - optional to taste
Sauté calabrese (smoked sausage) or Toscana
- 2 cup Smoked sausage - grated calabrese sausage (In Canada buy it here) or Toscana sausage (In Canada buy it here) or bacon or smoked ham – about ½ cup = 50-65 g / 1.76-2.3 oz per person
Filling
- 4 tsp Olive oil - 1 tsp per serving or to taste
- 4 tsp Butter - or goose fat - 1 tsp per serving or to taste
- 2 cup Gruyère cheese - grated - or “Swiss” cheese – about ½ cup = 50 g / 1.76 oz per person
- 2 cup Mozzarella cheese - grated - or provolone or Parmesan – about ½ cup = 50 g / 1.76 oz per person
- Green onion - chopped - or chives - optional to taste
- Parsley - chopped - optional to taste
- Salt - optional to taste
- Black pepper - freshly ground - optional to taste
- Nutmeg - or paprika - optional to taste
- 4 tsp Water - hot - 1 tsp per serving
For garnish
- Green onion - roots trimmed, chopped
- Parsley - chopped
- Parmesan cheese - Sliced petals
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Instructions
Parboil potatoes (you can do it a day before)
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the whole, unpeeled potatoes and simmer for 6-10 minutes. They should be cooked but still firm, not falling apart. Parboiled potatoes should be slightly tender but not soft.
- Drain, and put them in a bowl with cold water and ice.
- Let the potatoes cool and chill for at least a couple of hours. You can let them chill in the fridge overnight.
Mix cheese
- In a large bowl, combine the cheese and stir well. Reserve.
Grate the potatoes
- Once totally cool (or on the next day), peel and coarsely grate the potatoes using a food processor or box grater.
- Place potatoes into a different large bowl.
Sauté onion
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick skillet, and sauté onion for about 2-5 minutes, frequently stirring, until reduce but not brown.
- Add salt and pepper, stir again.
- Add onions to bowl with potatoes and gently stir.
- Don't clean skillet.
Preparing the rösti
- Reheat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, adding 1/2 tablespoon of butter and* 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil to coat the entire bottom of the pan.*Why butter and oil? Just using oil doesn’t have as nice a flavour. Just using butter gives a better flavour but won’t make it as crispy, and you get little black bits from the burnt bits of butter.
- When skillet and oil are very hot (but not smoking), add half of the grated potato mixture and spread it out evenly to make a thin layer cover the bottom of the pan.
- Allow cooking for about 1-2 minutes, while shaping it into a flat cake to form into a nice disc, pressing down lightly with a spatula.
- Top with the mixture of all the cheese and smoked sausage over the potato “pancake.”
- Then optionally sprinkle with green onions, a little salt and freshly ground pepper over fillings.
- Reduce heat to moderate
- Spread out the remaining grated potatoes on top, pressing down and around as you go with a spatula, covering all the cheese.
- When all the layers are assembled, sprinkle a little hot water over the top layer.
- Cover the skillet and continue to sauté over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes until the bottom layer browns.
- When the bottom potato cake edges are golden, gently shake the pan to loosen the Rösti. If needed, carefully work a spatula under the edges to loosen rösti. Then place a plate (that is larger than the sauté pan) over the pan and, using oven mitts, carefully turn the pan over so rösti ends up on the plate.
- If needed, add 1 teaspoon of butter and* 1 teaspoon olive oil and slide the Rösti back into the pan, uncooked side down.*Why butter and oil? Just using oil doesn’t have as nice a flavour. Just using butter gives a better flavour but won’t make it as crispy, and you get little black bits from the burnt bits of butter.
- Cook, covered for 5 more minutes, or until the bottom of the second side is golden brown.
- Remove to a plate covered with a paper towel to soak the excess grease.
- Add more salt and pepper if desired.
- Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving!
- To hold and keep warm: Transfer to rack set over a tray in a 120°C/250°F oven until ready to serve.
- Garnish with remaining green onions, parsley, Parmesan petals and serve hot!
Notes
The secrets for the best Rösti:
Take some largeish waxy potatoes with thin skin and low starch.
Parboiling the potatoes makes the cooking process go much faster and avoid you end up with raw watery potatoes.
It is not enough for some Swiss to parboil the potatoes – they must be done a day in advance and chilled before grating. It certainly makes them easier to grate, and they hold together better in the pan, too, although I think a couple of hours in the fridge would do the trick.
The potatoes should be boiled in their skins. The skin gives much more flavour to the rösti, and peeling is a small effort.
Another secret is cooking the first side covered with a lid or foil until crispy, then carefully turning and cooking the second side to golden perfection! Steaming them while browning makes them moist and wonderful and not too well done and dry.
Make sure you use a good non-stick and enough olive oil, so your rösti potatoes don't stick to the bottom. You may think about using a cast iron because it browns so well, but you should use a lighter non-stick pan for this recipe. At one point, you have to flip the potatoes, and that can be tricky in a heavy pan.
The key to a crispy outside and soft inside not laden with oil is to get the oil very hot before you add the potatoes, in which case they will absorb very little of it and leave nothing but flavour and crunch.
The potatoes are glorious plain, but a rösti can be made into a complete meal with the addition of onion, sausage, ham, or bacon and, of course, nutty Alpine cheese. You can also optionally add cream cheese to the filling. You can stuff it with a bunch of different things! Whatever you can think of, it belongs inside of a rösti!
You can also top with sour cream, bacon, chives, caramelized onions, sausage, chopped apple, a fried egg, and melted raclette cheese served alongside tangy gherkins and pickled pearl onions.
All you really need for a good rösti, however, is some firm potatoes, parboiled to give a soft, melting interior, and fried in plenty of hot butter and olive oil until crisp, and a few mountains to climb to work up an appetite.
What to serve with rösti?
- With anything which might otherwise be served with fried or mashed potatoes.
- For delighted cheers, serve them with your next steak or roast beef.
- Add smoked salmon to the plate for a traditional accompaniment.
- A green salad.
- Smoked ham.
- Mountain cheese.
- As a base for white fish (such as a sole).
- Lumpfish and some crème fraîche.
- German sausage, bratwurst.
- Meatloaf.
- With spinach and fried eggs (very typical – spinat und spiefelei).
- Or with a fried egg and crème fraiche.
- Leeks, spinach, lemon and ricotta.
- Spread with tapenade (a provençal paste or dip, made from black olives, capers, and anchovies) and artichoke hearts, sprinkle with some dry-fried fennel seeds and a little fresh, chopped coriander.
- Combine sour cream with parsley, green onion and Dijon mustard.
- topped with guacamole and a poached egg.
Fast2eat has partnered with Dubrazil to share new and simple Brazilian recipes your family will love!
This recipe was prepared with the following DuBrazil products:
Smoked Calabrese Sausage - (Brazilian style)
Calabrese is a typical sausage in Brazil. The name calabrese comes from the Calabria region in southeastern Italy, the origin of this sausage.
The calabrese sausage is one of the most striking and peppery sausages. That is why it is so popular to compose dishes, cold cuts plates, pizzas, savoury and fried foods. It also combines with bread, Brazilian farofa, rice and other garnishes. It can also be used in dishes such as Brazilian feijoada prepared in the pressure cooker, making a delicious sausage baked in the oven and an amazing sausage fried with onion. The calabrese sausage goes with everything.
It is found both raw and smoked. Never use sausages that have been pre-cooked, those smoked and cured, on the barbecue. This type of sausage is usually drier and ends up drying out even more in contact with the coals or grill.
Made with pork meat, it mixes approximately 90% of pork meat and 10% of bacon. In addition to salt and garlic, it has a remarkable flavour due to the Calabrian pepper, parsley and green onion used in the seasoning.
Toscana sausage
Toscana sausage is the most common sausage served in Brazilian barbecues.
It is made of 100% pork meat with bacon, seasoning, spices and condiments. It is divided into small 10 cm sections. There are spicy variations or mild to suit all tastes.
It is naturally coloured, from pink to red.
Toscana sausage is not smoked.
Thanks to DuBrazil for supplying the products to help me write this post today!Equipments - Click to Buy Now
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.
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