Rösti Cake
This is a serious (and delightfully simple) way to upgrade your Rösti.
And it comes without a potentially perilous or embarrassing frying pan flip.
You might miss the crispy outer potato layer but not to worry, there is a crispy cervelat layer, and inside there is more cervelat and cheese.
This cake is inspired by a recipe for Kartoffelkuchen Grossmutterart (Grandma’s potato cake), from one of my favourite 1970s Betty Bossi cookbooks, Alltags Rezepte mit Pfiff (more on this amazing cookbook and some recipes to look out for, here).
The Betty Bossi version uses mashed potatoes, whereas I prefer the texture of a Rösti base. Other adjustments include a 100% increase of cervelat.
800 g boiled potatoes
knob of butter
1 onion, chopped
4 Cervelat
150 g Gruyère or other hard cheese, grated
nutmeg, salt and pepper
around 250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
chopped chives or parsley to garnish
Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F / gas mark 6.
Peel and grate your boiled potatoes.
Cut two of the cervelat into cubes (for the filling), and the other two into rounds (for the decoration on top).
In a small frying pan, heat the butter until spluttering. Add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the cubed cervelat and fry for another couple of minutes, or until slightly browned. Let cool.
In a large bowl, mix together the grated potatoes, onion and cervelat mixture, grated cheese, and seasonings.
Spread into a 26 cm (10 inch) springform pan and arrange the halved tomatoes and cervelat rounds in a pleasing manner.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cervelat is nicely browned.
Sprinkle with chives or parsley.
The kind of potatoes that you would use for Gschwellti (the little boiled spuds that accompany raclette, fondue or Chäs) are good for this recipe and easy to grate after a night in the fridge. For more on Rösti and the potato debate, see here.
Any kind of hard Swiss cheese would suit, such as Gruyère, Appenzeller, Tilsiter, or all forms of Berg- and Alpkäse.
Of course, in Switzerland the only sausage to use is Cervelat, otherwise Lyoner sausage, or even Fleischkäse will do.
The classic
Rösti
