Recipes › Potato › Crispy Potato Rösti with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche
Crispy Potato Rösti with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche
A large, golden rösti made from grated raw potato and cooked in clarified butter until deeply crisp — the kind with a shattering crust and a tender centre. Topped with cold smoked salmon, crème fraîche, and capers, it makes a proper weekend breakfast or a relaxed lunch. The technique of wringing every drop of moisture from the grated potato is what separates a great rösti from a soggy disappointment.
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Ingredients
- 900 floury potatoes such as Maris Piper or King Edward, peeled and coarsely grated
- 60 g unsalted butter, clarified by skimming the foam off after meltingor use ghee
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp white pepper, freshly ground
- 200 g smoked salmon
- 150 ml crème fraîche
- 30 g capers, drained
- 15 g fresh dill, fronds picked
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Contains: cereals gluten, fish, milk.
Method
- Grate the peeled potatoes on the coarse side of a box grater. Transfer to a clean tea towel or muslin cloth, gather the corners, and twist tightly over the sink, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Do this in two batches if needed. The more liquid you remove, the crisper the rösti.About 8 min
- Tip the wrung-out potato into a bowl. Season with the salt and white pepper and mix well.
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan until foaming, then skim the white foam from the surface. This clarified butter has a higher smoke point and won't burn before the rösti is cooked through.About 3 min
- Heat 40g of the clarified butter in a 24cm non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the grated potato and press it firmly into an even round using the back of a spatula. It should fill the pan. Cook undisturbed for 12 minutes until the underside is deep golden brown. Resist lifting the edge to check too early — every 4 minutes is fine.About 12 min
- Place a large plate or flat lid over the pan and flip the rösti onto it in one confident move. Add the remaining clarified butter to the pan, slide the rösti back in uncooked-side down, and cook for a further 10 minutes until the second side is equally golden and the centre feels firm when pressed.About 10 min
- Slide the rösti onto a board or serving plate and leave to rest for 3 minutes. Top with spoonfuls of crème fraîche, drape over the smoked salmon, scatter with capers and dill fronds, and serve with lemon wedges.About 3 min
Tips
- Do not use waxy potatoes — they contain too much water and not enough starch to hold together. Maris Piper is the best choice available in the UK.
- The flip is the moment most people lose their nerve. A wide, flat plate and one decisive movement is all it takes. Hesitation is what causes collapse.
- If you prefer individual rösti, divide the mixture into four 180g portions and cook two at a time in a large pan, pressing to about 1.5cm thick. They need 7 minutes per side.
Ring the changes
- For a vegetarian version, skip the salmon and top with a soft-poached egg, crème fraîche, and capers.
- Stir 1 tbsp of finely chopped fresh chives and a grated shallot into the potato mixture before cooking for a more flavourful base.
Keeping it
The rösti is best eaten immediately. Leftover cooked rösti can be refrigerated for up to 2 days and re-crisped in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 3 minutes each side.
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