Recipe : Rosti with Mushroom Sauce

Rosti is a delicious recipe from Switzerland that hasn't quite caught on in the UK, or anywhere outside of Switzerland in fact. We sometimes eat potato cakes, but only really as a side-dish rather than a meal in itself.

This great little recipe is quick and easy and the mushroom sauce is absolutely devine.

Ingredients (serves 2) :

Rosti :
400 g potatoes
Butter
Salt and Pepper
1 Egg (optional) 


Sauce :
125 g Dried Mushrooms
2 Shallots (finely sliced)
100 ml White Wine
150 ml Creme Fraiche
Salt and Pepper


Preparation Method :



Mushroom Sauce :  
- Soak the mushrooms in water for around 1 hour.
- Separate and fry the mushrooms with the shallots (make sure to keep the water for later).
- Turn down the heat and add the white wine.
- Filter the water (used for the mushrooms) through a thin filter (a coffee filter for example) and add around 100 ml of it to the pan.
- Reduce by around one third.
- Add the creme fraiche and season.



Rosti:
- Par-boil the potatoes in salted water until tender (but NOT soft).
- Cool them in cold water before peeling and grating them.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the pan on a high heat and add a large knob of butter.
- Add the grated potatoes to the pan and shake the pan so that they don't stick for about a minute.
- Shape the potatoes into a flat cake if necessary (you may find that the rosti shapes in the pan naturally), cook for around 10 minutes.
- Using a plate smaller than the pan, flip the rosti and cook for a further 10 minutes.
- If you want an egg on top, crack it over the rosti and cook in the oven at 160C until the egg has cooked.
- Serve with a generous helping of sauce.