I’m a sucker for a rösti, and I truly believe it makes the best breakfast, brunch – or any meal, really. This one leans into the amazing varieties of root vegetables we have at our disposal, and it is especially stunning when layered and presented with all of the other elements: a bold mustard aïoli, crisp curried chickpeas, and an easy parsley and red onion salad that is quick-pickled to provide an acidic finish to a satisfying dish.
Root vegetable rösti, crisp chickpeas with parsley, red onion pickled salad and mustard aïoli
These rösti are easy to customise (although I’d suggest going for a combination of at least two root vegetables); they freeze well, too, making those lazy weekend brunches that much easier.
Prep 30 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 2-4
For the chickpeas
400g tin chickpeas, drained
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
For the salad
80g red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
10g parsley leaves
Zest of 1 lemon, plus juice of ½
1 tsp sumac
1 pinch salt
For the mustard aïoli
100g mayonnaise
1 tbsp English mustard
Juice of ½ lemon
For the rösti
300g root vegetables (such as beetroot, sweet potato, parsnip), peeled and grated
80g red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp plain flour
1 egg
Neutral oil, for cooking
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Pat the drained chickpeas dry with kitchen towel, then tip them on to the lined sheet. Add the olive oil, salt and spices, toss well, then bake for 15-20 minutes, until crisp.
For the salad, use your hands to mix all the ingredients in a bowl, gently massaging the parsley and red onion as you do so. You can do this a few hours in advance, or even the night before.
For the aïoli, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the rösti. Put a generous glug of neutral oil in a frying pan on a low-medium heat, then spoon in half the rösti mixture and flatten into a circle. Leave to cook for five to seven minutes, until the edges crisp up and the base releases itself from the pan, then carefully flip and cook for another five to seven minutes on the other side, until golden. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the residual heat of the oven while you repeat with the remaining rösti mix. If you’re serving more people, or want an easier time flipping the rösti, make them smaller, but bear in mind that the cooking time per side will be shorter.
To assemble, put the rösti on a platter, drizzle the mustard aïoli on top, followed by a sprinkling of the crisp chickpeas and a generous heap of the pickled salad. Save any leftover chickpeas or aïoli to use in salads or sandwiches.
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Ferment: Simple Ferments and Pickles, and How to Eat Them, by Kenji Morimoto, is published by Pan Macmillan at £22. To order a copy for £19.80, visit the guardianbookshop.com
