Mixed Vegetable and Quince Roesti

I recently saw in an upmarket restaurant in Britain that roesti, this quintessential Swiss poor people’s dinner, a way to use up left-over potatoes from the day before, was on the menu as something rather exotic and special. Unusual makes for exotic and special, it seems. Still, here is a variant of this dish, which is relatively quick and easy, if you don’t count the time needed for the slow and gentle frying that gives this dish the lovely crust and makes it so tasty.
It is also rather difficult to work out exact amounts and it depends on what you have that you want to use (up), so this will be a bit imprecise. But the upside is that you can add any other root vegetables you fancy.

The addition of quince was a last-minute thought, but apples would work too. Quinces have the advantage of being less sweet and more crunchy.

What you need

• 4 to 5 waxy potatoes (you can use raw ones, I usually do)
• 1 large carrot each, yellow, orange and purple
• 1 small celeriac
• 1 large quince
• 1 (Chioggia) beetroot
• 1 medium-sized onion, chopped (optional)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, pressed (optional)
• 100-200 g bacon cubes (optional)
• 50 gr butter for frying (slightly more if using an uncoated steel pan – as I do)
• 200 g flavoursome cheese (Mont Vully) in thin slices
• Optionally 1 fried egg per person

What you do

1. Peel and grate the potatoes, the quince and the vegetables, squeeze out excess liquid, if there is any, and mix the potatoes etc. evenly.
2. Melt the butter but do not let it colour in two frying pans.
3. Mix all the ingredients (except the cheese and the eggs, of course) evenly and distribute into the two frying pans, making sure the overall thickness of the layer of veggies does not exceed about 4 cm.
4. Fry slowly over a low heat until the vegetable on the top no longer look raw (about 15-20 min). By now the vegetables and potato at the bottom will be crisp and golden brown.
5. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, then turn over into a large plate.
6. Once again, melt some butter and slide the roesti back into the pans and fry on the other side.
7. Season the top and distribute the cheese slices over the surface. While the roesti browns on the other side, the cheese will melt.
8. Serve, if you want to, with a fried egg over each helping.

What goes nicely with this is a salad with walnuts and a dressing with aceto balsamico and pumpkin seed oil.