ROSTI WITH CREAMED SPINACH

SERVES: 6 TIME: 40 minutes

I first made potato rostis while working at a London restaurant called Bluebird.

When I returned to New Zealand and started my restaurant Molten, I made them in a big frypan. We would make plain potato rosti, rosti with onion jam in the centre, and even a layer of Kikorangi blue cheese (my favourite).

We'd serve them with some char-grilled sirloin and bacon jam for a tasty main course. For breakfast, I love to serve it with poached eggs and black pudding.

INGREDIENTS

5 large potatoes

100g butter, melted

3 tbsp vegetable oil pinch salt freshly ground black pepper creamed spinach, see recipe at right

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2 Peel the potatoes and boil for about 8 minutes, or until parcooked (still firm enough to grate). Drain, then cool in the fridge.

2 Grate the potatoes, and mix with melted butter, salt, and pepper.

3 Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a 30cm, non-stick frying pan. Layer in the potato mix, pressing each layer down as you go. Keep the bottom of the rosti moving to avoid burning. Once all the potato has been pressed into the pan, cook on a medium heat for about 4 minutes.

4 Drizzle the remaining oil around the edge of the pan, flip the rosti out onto a plate, then slide it back into the pan, uncooked side down. Cook for a further 2 minutes, then bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Serve with the creamed spinach.