Frico from Memorie di Angelina

- Frico | Memorie di Angelina:
...frico, is something like a potato pancake, only you pile on lots of cheese, specifically a mild Alpine cheese called Montasio (see Notes).
The cheese melts into the potato and forms a delicious round of goodness, warm and creamy on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside.

Substitute for Montasio cheese - Parmigiano Reggiano OR Asiago.. you could use fontina at a push.
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
700g (1-1/2 lbs) potatoes, peeled and diced
350g (3/4 lb) Montasio cheese, coarsely shredded or cut into small dice
Salt and pepper
Olive oil, lard, or lardo minced into a paste
75g (2-1/2 oz) pancetta, guanciale or speck, cut into small dice (optional)

Sauté the onion gently in the olive oil or lard or minced lardo in a skillet (nonstick is best) until soft and translucent, along with the pancetta, guanciale or speck if using.

Add the potatoes and mix together with the onions.
Season generously with salt and pepper, then add a glassful of water and cover.
Let the potatoes simmer until soft, adding more water if necessary.
Uncover and let any remaining liquid evaporate, smashing the potato with a wooden spoon into a very rough purée.
Leave some of the potato dice whole for a more interesting texture.

Add the cheese and fold it well into the potato and onion.
Stir from time to time over gentle heat until the cheese melts completely.
Continue simmering for another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened enough that it forms a solid mass.

Now flatten out the mixture and turn the heat up.
Let the mixture form a nice brown crust on the bottom, then flip it over and let it brown on the other side, as if you were making a frittata, about 3-5 minutes per side.
Repeat if need be to get a nice crust.

Serve immediately, while the cheese is still warm and creamy.
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Lentils with potatoes.

small brown lentils
olive oil
white onion, finely chopped
garlic clove, finely chopped
carrot, peeled and finely chopped
celery stick, finely chopped
bay leaves
diced tomatoes or passata
potatoes cut into small pieces
broth
smoked British Bacon Lardons
Salt and black pepper

- Wash the lentils.
Boil the kettle.
In a large, deep frying pan or Dutch oven, warm the olive oil and add with a five-minute interval the smoked British Bacon Lardons, onion, garlic, carrot and celery and fry gently until soft.

- add the lentils and bay leaves and then cover with at least 5cm of water and cook at the gentlest of simmers until the lentils are tender, but still with just a little bite – which will take anything from 20–40 minutes (be careful: lentils turn from tender to mush quite quickly).
Stir in the tomatoes, potatoes.
Keep tasting and add more water or broth if the pan looks dry.
By the end of cooking, the water should have been almost completely absorbed.
Season.

Serve with sausages (Waitrose British chorizo pork sausages or Toulouse sausages with bacon, red wine & garlic - best for me!).
Brown them in a little oil, then pour over a wine (red, white or rosé) and put on the lid so they cook in a steamy braise for 20 minutes.

Adapted from
- basic lentil soup:
- Favorite Lentil Soup: One-Pot, Vegan, Completely Delicious - Alexandra's Kitchen:
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Loaded Scalloped Potatoes - Jo Cooks

- Loaded Scalloped Potatoes - Jo Cooks:

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Roast lamb with boulangère potatoes.

Start your boulangère potatoes first, then use them as a base to roast your lamb on.
Ingredients:
1 lamb joint
Large potatoes equal in weight to the lamb
1 large onion
1 tbsp dried herbes de Provence
2 garlic cloves
50g/2oz butter

You can make this roast for two, using a small half shoulder, or as many as 12, with two legs of lamb.
Just remember you need the same weight of potatoes as meat.
Serve with redcurrant jelly rather than mint sauce.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F/200C/gas mark 6.
Peel the potatoes and slice thinly.
Rinse them and soak in cold water.
Peel, halve and finely chop the onion.
Peel the garlic.
Chop one garlic and thinly slice the other.
Mix onion, chopped garlic and herbs.
Use half the butter to grease a large earthenware gratin-type dish or roasting pan.
Fill with a third of the drained potatoes.
Season with salt and pepper and scatter half the onion mixture over the top.
Make another layer of potatoes and onion and finish with a layer of potatoes.
Smooth the surface of the potatoes and press down evenly with the flat of your hand.
Dot with butter.
Add enough boiling water to almost cover the potatoes.
Cook them in the oven for 30mins, then turn up to 450F/230C/gas mark 8 for another 15 minutes – until the liquid has been absorbed, the potatoes are tender and the top is nicely browned.
Meanwhile, trim excess fat from the lamb.
Make slashes in the meat and post the sliced garlic.
Calculate the cooking time, allowing between 15 and 25 minutes per pound, depending on how pink you like your lamb.
Now place the joint on top of the potatoes and cook for 15 mins before returning temperature to earlier level.
Turn meat at halfway point.
Then remove the joint, keep it warm and allow it to rest for 15 minutes or more, leaving the potatoes in the oven.
Carve at the table, giving everyone some of the meat juices and letting your guests help themselves to the potatoes (they’ll want more).

From: Roast lamb with boulangère potatoes - Saga:
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Crisp bacon rosti with fried eggs.

Rösti or röschti is a Swiss dish consisting mainly of potatoes, in the style of a fritter.
It was originally a breakfast dish, commonly eaten by farmers in the canton of Bern, but is now eaten all over Switzerland and around the world.
Ingredients:
sunflower oil, for frying
2 rashers smoked back bacon, cut into small pieces
1 small onion, thinly sliced
500g/1lb 2oz floury potatoes, coarsely grated
2 free-range eggs
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 20cm/8in lidded frying pan, add the bacon and fry over a high heat until crisp.
Remove the bacon and set aside.
Add the onion to the pan and fry for 1 minute.
Cover, lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes, until soft and tender.
Put the potatoes inside a clean tea towel and wring out as much water as possible by squeezing the towel – this prevents the rosti from being soggy.
Put the potato in a bowl, add the onion and bacon.
Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
Return the pan to the heat and add 1 tablespoon oil.
When the oil is hot add the potato mixture.
Using the back of a spoon press the mixture into the pan so there is an even layer covering the whole pan.
Cook over a low heat for 5–10 minutes, then carefully turn over.
The easiest way is to turn it upside down onto a plate and then slide it back into the pan (you may need to add a little more oil into the pan first).
Cook the other side for 5–10 minutes, until golden and crisp.
Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the eggs until cooked to your liking.
Cut the rosti into wedges and divide between plates, top with the eggs and serve.

Pan-fried potatoes topped with onion and carrot.

Ingredients:
- 4 large or 5-6 small potatoes
- vegetable oil
- salt and pepper to taste.

Method:
Onion and carrot finely chop and fry over medium heat until soft.
Move mixture of onions and carrots from frying pan in the bowl.
Peel the potatoes and cut into sticks or strips.
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over high heat.
For best results, you can rinse chopped potatoes with cold water and dry with a towel.
Put chopped potatoes in hot oil with a layer of no more than 4 cm, and cover evenly with the mixture of the previously fried onions and carrots.
Cover pan with a lid.
Do not stir and cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes until the potatoes are soft (fork-tender), and only at the end reduce heat to low.
Potatoes get well-fried, with a crispy crust.
Sprinkle with the desirable amount of salt and black pepper, add a little butter.