Simple Vegan Potato Rosti With Spinach Avocado and Tahini

The first time I had a potato rosti was in food tech at school. My friend whipped up the most delicious crispy, fried potato cakes out of hardly any ingredients and I was sold for life. That said, I’m pretty sure she used egg and a tonne of oil. This recipe does not.

These make a great base and they go well with endless different toppings. They’re really quick to whip up and you can absolutely play around with spices or add in other root vegetables like carrot or parsnip.

Ingredients

For Rostis

(Makes 5 rostis)

1 heaped tablespoon ground flaxseed

2.5 tablespoons water

1 large potato or equivalent (around the size of a baking potato)

1/4 cup spelt flour

large pinch salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)

2 tablespoon dried chives or 2 teaspoons fresh

1-2 teaspoons dried thyme

A few rounds of black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1-2 tablespoon rapeseed oil for frying

Topping

1/2-1 bag of fresh spinach

Squeeze of lemon juice

2 tablespoons tahini

2-3 tablespoons water

1/2-1 avocado, sliced

Pinch or salt

Pinch of dried chilli (optional)

Toasted seeds (optional)

Method

Begin by making your flax egg. Combine the flaxmeal and water. Mix well and set aside for at least 5 mintues or until gloopy.

Grate your potato (using the larger holes on the grater).

First, use your hands to squeeze out as much of the potato’s natural liquid as you can, then use a clean tea towel to ring out the rest. It will still be a little wet but that’s fine.

Put your grated carrot into a bowl and ddd spelt flour, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, chives, thyme and black pepper and give everything a mix.

Then add your flax egg and olive oil and mix again. You should now have a sort of sticky batter which easily holds together if you form a small ball of it with your hands. If not, add a tablespoon of water.

Heat up a frying pan with your rapeseed oil, over a medium heat. You can check if your oil is hot enough to fry your rostis by adding a tiny bit of batter to the pan. If it sizzles, you’re good to go.

Form burger sized patties in your hands and carefully add to your pan one at a time.

Fry for 3-5 mins on each side, until very golden brown and firm. Press the rostis down with a spatula as they are cooking. Put your oven on a low heat so you can put the rostis in there to keep them warm when they’re done.

You remove any excess oil with a paper towel after cooking if you like, but they shouldn’t be too oily.

For the topping, steam your spinach for a few minutes until it wilts. Transfer to a bowl and squeeze some lemon juice over it.

Combine tahini, water and a small pinch of salt. Mix well until you have a pale runny cream. Add a tiny bit more water if necessary.

To assemble, place a rosti on your plate, then add a handful of spinach. Add some sliced avocado on top, then drizzle with your tahini dressing and sprinkle over toasted seeds.