Three-Cheese Potato Frico
By Jessica RudolphPublished on December 19, 2024
Time
1¼ hours
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
This dish serves four as a main course with a salad, or it can serve six as a side dish. You’ll need a 10-inch nonstick skillet with a lid. If you can find Montasio cheese, you can substitute 4 ounces of it for the fontina and cheddar.
Instructions
- Heat oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes, water, pepper, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Spread potatoes into even layer, cover skillet, and bring mixture to vigorous simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender and beginning to fall apart and pan is completely dry, 18 to 22 minutes.
- Stir in cheeses with silicone spatula and cook, folding and stirring mixture constantly, until cheese is melted and potatoes are mostly broken down, about 2 minutes. Smooth top of mixture. Increase heat to medium and cook until edges and bottom are deep golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes, gently lifting edges with spatula to check color of bottom.
- Loosen edges of frico from pan with spatula, then vigorously shake pan in circular motion until frico slides around freely in pan. Remove pan from heat. Slide frico, browned side down, onto large plate (make sure plate is larger than skillet). Invert second large plate over frico, then flip frico onto second plate. Slide frico, browned side up, back into skillet, using spatula to loosen frico from plate as needed. Neaten edges of frico with spatula.
- Return pan to medium heat and cook until second side is deep golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Slide frico onto cutting board and let cool for 5 minutes (crust will continue to crisp as it cools). Cut frico into wedges and serve immediately.
Time
1¼ hoursYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Potato frico hails from the Friuli region in northeastern Italy. For centuries, enterprising Friulian cooks would combine potatoes, onions, and local Montasio cheese, a semihard Alpine cow’s-milk cheese, in a thick, crispy pancake as a way to use up scraps left over from the cheese-making process. Today, frico remains an iconic dish of the region, and its popularity is spreading throughout the world, including the United States. To make our version, we softened onion and then added russet potatoes (sliced thin to cook quickly and cut into quarters so they were easier to stir in the skillet) and a measured amount of water (just enough to leave the skillet dry once the potatoes had cooked). Then we stirred in a combination of cheeses: Fontina’s smooth melt added creamy cohesion to the dish; cheddar added a mellow, nutty sweetness; and Parmesan provided a punchy sharpness. Tossing the cheeses with the cooked potato caused some of the starchy cooked potato to slough off and mix with the cheeses, forming a thick, gooey amalgamation of melted cheese and potato with some intact bits of potato suspended within for more varied texture. We cooked the mixture until browned and crispy on both sides (using a plate to help flip it) and then cut it into wedges to serve.
Before You Begin
This dish serves four as a main course with a salad, or it can serve six as a side dish. You’ll need a 10-inch nonstick skillet with a lid. If you can find Montasio cheese, you can substitute 4 ounces of it for the fontina and cheddar.
Instructions
- Heat oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes, water, pepper, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Spread potatoes into even layer, cover skillet, and bring mixture to vigorous simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender and beginning to fall apart and pan is completely dry, 18 to 22 minutes.
- Stir in cheeses with silicone spatula and cook, folding and stirring mixture constantly, until cheese is melted and potatoes are mostly broken down, about 2 minutes. Smooth top of mixture. Increase heat to medium and cook until edges and bottom are deep golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes, gently lifting edges with spatula to check color of bottom.
- Loosen edges of frico from pan with spatula, then vigorously shake pan in circular motion until frico slides around freely in pan. Remove pan from heat. Slide frico, browned side down, onto large plate (make sure plate is larger than skillet). Invert second large plate over frico, then flip frico onto second plate. Slide frico, browned side up, back into skillet, using spatula to loosen frico from plate as needed. Neaten edges of frico with spatula.
- Return pan to medium heat and cook until second side is deep golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Slide frico onto cutting board and let cool for 5 minutes (crust will continue to crisp as it cools). Cut frico into wedges and serve immediately.
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