Rosti madness

[jarl1947]

Can anyone help with a foolproof rosti menu! I've tried several but they all fail!

My latest attempt was a carrot & courgette rosti. I grated the ingredients, drained them and shallow fried them in oil. They didn't hold up and simply disintegrated.

This happens with all my attempts, including a simple potato rosti. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for the help.

[Andy M.]

jarl1947:

Welcome to DC. You're going to like it here.

With a rosti, you want to end up with a brown-crusted solid 'cake' in one piece.

To accomplish that, heat your skillet and add the butter. When it's all melted and the foaming has subsided, add the potato and pack it down into a firm, flat mass. Leave it to cook UNDISTURBED for 10-15 minutes over medium heat. This will allow a crust to form and then allow the crust to unstick itself from the pan.

Place a plate, face down, over the potato in the pan and flip the combination over so the rosti is on the plate. Slide the rosti back into the pan crust side up and continue cooking to form a crust on the second side.

[jarl1947]

Thanks. I'll give it a try. Will this method work with all vegetables?

[Andy M.]

I think the rosti depends on the starch of the potato or other vegetables to act as a binder so you can end up with a cohesive cake rather than a scramble of loose cooked veggies in a pan. Veggies that aren't starchy, can't do that.

Of course, you could experiment once you get the technique down.

[Haggis]

Jarl, you said you drained the vegetables, perhaps that wasn't enough to get all the moisture out.

What you could try is after grating, pick up small amounts of the mixture and squeeze all the moisture out with your hands, or, do what I do and use a piece of muslin (cheesecloth), or alternatively a clean tea towel.

Just place the mixture into the centre of the material, bundle it all up and begin squeezing all the moisture out of it.

[Michael in FtW]

What was your recipe?

Grated carrot & courgette (zucchini) alone have nothing to bind them together. While potatoes have starch ... it could be the recipe or your technique.

Knowing your recipe and what you did would give us something to work with ....

[htc]

What's rosti?

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by htc

What's rosti?

It's basically a potato pancake type of dish. Shredded potatoes are pressed into a skillet and cooked with fat. You cook on the first side until there is a nice golden brown crust then flip and repeat.

Variations can include the addition of cheese, onion, etc.

[Michael in FtW]

Here's some rosti recipes for you to check out HTC.

[htc]

Oh, thanks! I am going to check this out DH and stepson would love this!