Potato Rosti with Parma ham
Ingredients
- 675 g potatoes (large, peeled & grated, moisture squeezed out thoroughly; aim for 340g potato after all that processing)
- salt & pepper
- 25 g butter (unsalted) (melted, 2T)
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 3 eggs
- 15 g butter (unsalted) (1T)
- 1 t dried thyme (or 2 fresh thyme sprigs, if available)
- 2/3 c chopped onion
- 50 g chopped Parma ham (it should come in thin slices; chop these into about 1/2" square pieces)
- 75 g thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
Method
Season the grated potato generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix in the melted butter, garlic, and egg.
Heat a medium frying pan until hot. Add half the potato mixture, shaping it into a pancake shape. Fry until set, around 10 minutes; flip over and fry for another 10 minutes until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a baking sheet; repeat with the other half of the potato mixture.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining butter in a small, heavy-based frying pan. Add the thyme and onions; fry gently for 10 minutes until the onion is softened.
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Place the fried potato rostis onto a baking sheet. Spread the fried onion over the rostis; layer with one-third of the cheese, then half of the parma ham, then another third of the cheese, then the rest of the parma ham, then the last of the cheese. Bake for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted. Serve warm from the oven.
Notes
SJ Note 27 Aug 2011: This was really interesting, really different. Good: we'll have it again, but with some adjustments I've already incorporated here. Less parma ham, a meltier type of cheese, less onion, more potato, making two smaller pieces instead of one large piece (that was really awkward to handle), and more potato. We had it with scrambled eggs; would be good with fruit in addition.