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1. Place potatoes in large bowl and fill with cold water. Using hands, swirl to remove excess starch, then drain in strainer.

2. Wipe bowl dry. Place one-third of potatoes in center of kitchen towel. Gather ends together and twist as tightly as possible to expel maximum moisture. Transfer potatoes to bowl and repeat process (twice) with remaining potatoes.

3. Sprinkle salt, cornstarch, and pepper to taste over potatoes. Using hands or fork, toss ingredients together until well blended.

4. Melt 2 1/2 tablespoons butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add potato mixture and spread into even layer. Cover and cook 6 minutes. Remove cover, and using spatula, gently press potatoes down to form round cake. Cook, occasionally pressing on potatoes to shape into uniform round cake, until bottom is deep golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes longer.

5. Shake skillet to loosen roesti and slide onto large plate. Add remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons butter to skillet and swirl to coat pan. Invert roesti onto second plate and slide it, browned side up, back into skillet. Cook, occasionally pressing down on cake, until bottom is well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow cake to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer roesti to cutting board, cut into 4 pieces, and serve immediately.

Ramping Up Roesti The Swiss traditionally top roesti with a range of meats, cheeses, and vegetables to create a simple main course. But roesti is not pizza you must use a light hand with toppings to preserve the potato flavor and proper texture. One topped roesti will serve two as a main course.

Slide 2 softly fried eggs onto finished roesti and sprinkle with 1/2 cup to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese and coarse salt to taste.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese over roesti about 3 minutes before fully cooked on second side. While not traditional, sharp Cheddar, Manchego, Italian Fontina, and Havarti cheeses taste good, too.

Drape 4 or 5 slices cured ham or prosciutto over roesti a few minutes before fully cooked on second side. If desired, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or rosemary and coarse black pepper and serve with whole-grain mustard.

Top with 3 or 4 strips crumbled cooked bacon and 1 large onion, sliced thin and cooked in 1 tablespoon bacon drippings or butter until soft and seasoned with salt and lots of black pepper. Sprinkle with sherry vinegar if desired.

Shingle 1 large tomato (sliced very thin, placed on paper towels, salted for 30 minutes, and patted dry) over roesti a few minutes before fully cooked on second side. (Particularly good when combined with Fontina; put cheese down first so that it melts.)

Serves 6

Notes

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.

Why this recipe works:
Producing a golden-brown crust for our roesti recipe wasnt 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.

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