Rösti with cream cheese, dill pickle and everything seasoning
This rösti draws its inspiration from a NY-style deli with three quintessential additions: spring onion cream cheese, pickled cucumber and everything seasoning. Serve this for brunch with some smoked salmon or a poached egg, if you like.
Recipe from OTK Extra Good Things
Prep
20 min
Cook
1 hr 25 min
Serving size
4 people
Ingredients
1kg King Edward or Maris Piper potatoes
40g panko
55g ghee, plus 2 extra tbsp, melted
salt and black pepper
CREAM CHEESE:
200g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
60g spring onions (about 4), trimmed and finely sliced
DILL PICKLE:
2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
1⁄2 ridge cucumber or 1⁄3 regular cucumber (100g), thinly sliced into rounds
1⁄2 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced (40g)
5g picked dill leaves
EVERYTHING SEASONING:
11⁄2 tbsp sesame seeds, well toasted
11⁄2 tsp nigella seeds, toasted
2 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp garlic granules
1⁄2 tsp Aleppo chilli
Method
1. Start with the pickle. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil on a medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain in a sieve, then fill the pan with fresh water again and repeat this process twice more. This’ll remove any bitterness from the seeds.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and 1⁄4 teaspoon of salt to dissolve, then add the mustard seeds and cucumber and toss to combine. Set aside to pickle lightly while you continue with the recipe.
3. Peel the potatoes and grate them on the coarse side of a box grater. Transfer half the mixture to a clean tea towel and wring out as much liquid as you can. Don’t worry about being too forceful; a little liquid will help it cook through. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining grated potato. You should have roughly 600g wrung-out potato. Add the panko, the 2 tablespoons of melted ghee, 11⁄4 teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper and mix well to combine.
4. Place a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat with 40g of the ghee. Once the ghee is melted and hot but not smoking, add the potato mixture, using the back of a spatula to smooth it out evenly. Let it cook and brown gently for 25–30 minutes. Towards the last 5–10 minutes, the rösti will start to detach from the base of the pan and you’ll be able to move it around easily. Carefully invert the rösti on to a large plate, browned side up. Return the pan to a medium heat with the remaining 15g of ghee and, once melted, slide the rösti back into the pan, browned side up. Cook for another 15 minutes, until nicely browned on the bottom. Transfer to a board and cut the rösti into eight equal pieces.
5. Once the rösti has been flipped, add the red onion to the pickle mixture to soften slightly. Stir through the dill right before serving.
6. Make the cream cheese by stirring it together in a bowl with the spring onions and a tiny pinch of salt.
7. Make the everything seasoning by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl.
8. Divide the rösti between four plates, with a spoonful each of the cream cheese and pickle mixture and a good sprinkling of everything seasoning, serving any extra alongside.