Aishling Moore: How to make potato rosti with anchovy mayonnaise

Potato Rosti mussels recipe by Aishling Moore Picture: Chani Anderson

A couple of weekends ago I went to London for 36 hours of good food and a little market research.

I’ve been a frequent visitor to London since I began cooking, sometimes I’ll go to blow off some steam, and other times in search of inspiration.

On this trip I chose four restaurants. To kick things off I had a whopper Sunday lunch at the Fat Badger in Notting Hill. A stunning Sunday night supper followed at Greek-inspired restaurant OMA, which overlooks Borough Market.

A pork cheek-filled doughnut for breakfast on Monday morning at St John in Neal’s Yard set me up before heading to Dorian in Notting Hill for lunch, the meal I had most been looking forward to.

Dorian is a highly acclaimed modern British bistro that holds one Michelin star. So many of my friends in hospitality had been and exclaimed that this was a place I needed to visit.

Dorian has a section of their menu devoted to rostis which was the deciding factor in picking this as my last meal in London before I caught the last flight home.

The toppings of such rosti were many. Options included picked crab meat and broad bean, morel and wild garlic, croque monsieur, and caviar.

We often have rosti on the menu in Goldie, ours uses a mix of shredded potato and sauerkraut instead of the typical potato and onion.

We steamroast the mix before pressing, slicing and deep frying.

This weekend, I have developed a rosti recipe that anyone can make at home without the use of a fancy steam oven.

There’s also no need to deep fry it: With this recipe, excellent results can be achieved with a standard household oven.

I’ve served this with a simple anchovy-flavoured mayonnaise and a few tinned mussels.

Potato rosti with anchovy mayonnaise

recipe by:Aishling Moore

I have developed a rosti recipe that anyone can make at home without the use of a fancy steam oven. There's also no need to deep fry it: with this recipe, excellent results can be achieved with a standard household oven.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 40 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• For the potato rosti

• 1kg of potatoes

• 1 onion sliced

• 50g butter (melted)

• 10g fine sea salt

• 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil, for greasing loaf tin

• For the anchovy mayonnaise

• 100g mayonnaise

• 4 anchovy fillets

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 lemon

•  

Method

1. Grate the potatoes on the coarsest side of a box grater.

2. Place in a large bowl and fill with cold water to wash.

3. Drain well to remove excess water.

4. Place the drained potatoes in a large bowl with the sliced onion, melted butter and salt. Mix well to coat the potato and onion well with the melted butter.

5. Grease a 2lb loaf tin with vegetable oil and line with parchment paper.

6. Fill with the rosti mixture. Press the mixture into the corners of the loaf tin as you fill, this is important so that you have a compact product once cooked.

7. Cover the top of the rosti with a piece of parchment and bake in a preheated oven at 180°Ce for 45 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and place another loaf tin directly on top of the rosti and press.

9. Place a couple of heavy books or tins on top of the second loaf tin and leave to cool completely before placing in the fridge.

10. Chill for at least 3 hours before slicing.

11. Place the slices of rosti on a lined baking tray and drizzle with a tablespoon of vegetable oil.

12. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 18 minutes until golden brown and crisp.

13. Turn halfway through and season with sea salt flakes to serve.

14. To make the anchovy mayonnaise,

15. Chop the anchovies until they form a paste.

16. Place in a small mixing bowl, using the finest side of a box grater zest the lemon and mince the garlic and add to the anchovy paste.

17. Add the mayonnaise and mix well to combine.

18. Taste to correct the seasoning, you might want to add the juice of half a lemon, depending on the salt levels of the anchovies you’ve used.

Fish tales

Its vitally important to remove as much excess water from the potatoes as possible to produce a compact rosti.

Melting the butter ensures the full rosti mixture is coated in butter, aiding the cooking process.

When filling the loaf tin, it’s essential to pack the mixture into the corners of the tin and remove as many air pockets as possible.

Weighing down and cooling the cooked rosti is key before slicing.

The cooked and sliced rosti can also be cooked in a deep-fat fryer or an air fryer until golden brown.

The rosti can be cooked a day or two ahead and any leftovers keep well in the freezer.