Coming to the Alps and not eating Rösti would be like having strawberries at Wimbledon without cream, drinking gin without tonic or tea without some milk.

(No arguments here please – I’m British and we drink our tea with milk!) They are just meant to be together so I absolutely had to post my Rösti recipe whilst I am here in Switzerland surrounded by snow and these incredible mountains that I wake up to every morning.

Synonymous with the Alps, Rösti are made from the simplest of ingredients – potatoes, fat and seasoning. Celebrating the magnificence of the humble potato, they should be crispy on the outside and softer on the inside, delicious as they are or loaded with cheese, eggs, smoky bacon and tomatoes.

Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS

Rösti:

300g peeled Rösti potatoes per person (or other waxy potato such as Charlotte)
1 teaspoon salt for the cooking water
15g unsalted butter
15g lard or vegetable oil
up to ⅛ teaspoon salt (to taste)
up to ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Suggested Toppings:

50g grated or sliced Swiss cheese (I use Gruyère or Emmental)
1 egg
3 – 4 cherry tomatoes halved or 1 sliced tomato
50g smoked ham
50g cooked garlic mushrooms
50g dried meats
50g smoked salmon, 2 tablespoons sour cream, fresh dill and a lemon quarter

STEPS

1) You need to start this dish a few hours or the day before you plan to eat it.

2) Parboil the potatoes: peel the potatoes and cut into chunks roughly 5cm in diameter. ( I often don’t bother with this stage and simply wash and then chop and boil the potatoes. I enjoy a bit of skin, particularly if it is crispy.)

3) Put into a saucepan with 1 teaspoon salt and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 – 8 minutes or until they feel about half cooked. Drain.

4) Leave the lid off to allow the steam to escape and when cool, cover and put in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

5) Preheat oven to Fan Oven 180°C /200°C/400°F/Gas 6

6) Grate and cook the potatoes: when the potatoes are very cold, use a Rösti grater or the large side of a box/cheese grater to grate the potatoes

7) Heat the butter and lard/oil in a cast iron frying pan over a moderately hot heat. Add the potatoes and seasoning and fry until they are slightly caramelised and starting to brown, stirring from time to time.

8) Either cook in the oven in the cast iron frying pan or transfer to buttered serving dishes and cook in a pre-heated oven

9) Cook until piping hot, crispy and lightly browned. The length of time you cook the Rösti for will depend on how much you are cooking and the size of the dish. It will take anytime from 15 minutes for 1 person or up to 40 minutes for 4 people in the same pan.

Serving options and variations:

1) As is with sausages and gravy or HP sauce (Probably Brits only but a must if serving for breakfast!)

2) With cheese cooked on top (add the cheese for the last 10 minutes in the oven)

3) With thickly sliced tomatoes cooked on top (add the tomatoes for the last 10 minutes in the oven)

4) With egg (add the egg for the last 6 – 8 minutes in the oven)

5) Stir through cooked chopped bacon, ideally smoked, at the end of point 7.

6) Layer over some dried meats when it comes out of the oven – serve gherkins and pickled onions on the side.

Top with some sliced mushrooms cooked in butter with some garlic and salt and pepper

7) Take the Rösti out of the oven and top with smoked salmon, sour cream, fresh dill and a wedge of lemon

Scatter over chopped parsley or thyme.