Published March 1, 2007.
Producing a golden-brown crust for our roesti recipe wasn't much of a problem, but the inside always came out gluey and half-cooked. For a better roesti recipe, inside and out, we eliminated moisture by wringing the raw grated potatoes in a towel rather than patting them with a paper towel. First covering the potatoes, then uncovering them to finish cooking created surprisingly light potatoes. Our final breakthrough came when we tried removing excess starch with a rinse in cold water before squeezing, but then added back just enough starch to hold the cake together by tossing the rinsed, squeezed-dry grated potato with a teaspoon of cornstarch.
The test kitchen prefers a roesti prepared with potatoes that have been cut through the large shredding disk of a food processor. It is possible to use a box grater to cut the potatoes, but they should be cut lengthwise, so you are left with long shreds. It is imperative to squeeze the potatoes as dry as possible. A well-seasoned cast-iron skillet can be used in place of the nonstick skillet. By adding fried eggs, ham, bacon, cheese, cooked onions, and/or tomatoes, (see below for specific suggestions), roesti can be turned into a light meal.
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