Crispy Vegetable Rösti made with carrots, potatoes, onions, zucchini and parsnips fried until golden and served with silky smooth avocado cream.
I’ve been thinking about my mom so much lately. I mean, more than normal. I pretty much think about her everyday, but over the last few weeks, she has been on my mind constantly. Mostly because I am striving to be the kind of mom she was and I’m failing pretty hard at the moment. I’ve always been a pretty impatient person but over the last couple of weeks there’s been quite a lot of stress to deal with around these parts and that coupled with my impatience as caused me to be a pretty terrible mom at times.
I make up for it (not really) by staring at my kids while they sleep, softly whispering how much I love them. Totally not creepy. But yeah, I’ve just been wondering how my mom did it all. How she was just so loving and patient and wonderful all the time. Did she have a secret drinking cupboard? Was she on calming tablets? Did she scream into her pillow while we were watching Gummy Bears? Or was she just the world’s best mom? I’m thinking it’s the latter.
Along with that, I’ve also been yearning for the foods she cooked us. As I’ve said before, she wasn’t always the most keen of cooks, but who is? I mean, I often wonder how my kids can be hungry again?! But my mom did make some pretty fabulous dishes. Her chicken fried steak was particularly amazing. But she also cured my boyfriend blues with Welsh Rarebit and she healed colds with sweet, milky tea and Marmite toast.
Another dish she made incredibly well were vegetable Röstis. She would grate onions, carrots and potatoes and bind them with a little flour before frying spoonfuls in hot oil until they were crisp and golden. They were usually served as a side to roasted chicken or pan fried pork chops but I just remember how utterly delicious I found them. She would season them generously with salt and powdery white pepper and I simply loved them.
Last week I had a fridge laden with fresh vegetables after having to do a winter produce shoot for a client. I’m talking huge bunches of carrots, kilograms of potatoes, pumpkin, beetroot and more. And that’s when I decided to make a version of my mom’s delicious rösti. I wanted to pack them full of veg so I used a whole bunch of rainbow carrots, zucchini, potatoes, onions and parsnips. I didn’t want to use egg (which also makes these fully vegan, btw) so just binded them with a little flour.
The starch in the flour and the potato along with the natural juices of the vegetables was enough to bind the vegetables together. They’re definitely more fragile than if you would use egg but I find them much lighter too. By all means, use an egg if you feel you need that stability but I found them fantastic without. I served my rösti with a simple avocado cream (more winter veg needing to be used) and the end result was just the most delicious lunch. As I mentioned, these would be great as a side dish as well and they are perfection when topped with a fried egg. However you serve them, make sure they are piping hot and don’t forget the white pepper. It’s a must
Vegetable Rösti with guacamole cream
Ingredients
for the Rösti
- 8 large rainbow carrots grated
- 2 large potatoes grated
- 4 parsnips grated
- 6 medium zucchini grated
- 1 red onion grated
- 2-3 tablespoons flour
- 1-2 teaspoons salt to taste
- white pepper to taste
- oil for frying
for the avocado cream
- 2 avocados
- 1 tablespoon sour cream/coconut yoghurt optional
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- To make the Rösti, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl then mix well. Make sure you break up any clumps of flour (I find it best to use my hands for this).
- Heat a little oil in a deep frying pan then fry spoonfuls of the mixture until golden brown and crisp on both sides and cooked through.
- Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat until all the mixture has been cooked.
- To make the avocado cream, blend all the ingredients together in a food processor (alternatively just mash with a fork) and season to taste.
- Serve the Rösti with the avocado cream.
Nutrition
I would like to make these, they’re lovely & I’ll bet delicious. I really don’t care for parsnips, could you possibly recommend a substitution for them?
Thank you!
Just add extra potatoes.
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These look amazing! Could they be made w/o onions? It’s one of the food allergies to be managed in my extended family!
Yes, of course! The onion is really just there for more flavour but can definitely be omitted if there are issues with them.
Hello.I did the Vegetable Rosti and I have quite abit of the guacamole dip left over.
What could I do with it?
Love getting and doing your récipes.I´m a lover of my kitchen.Cooking is just THE BEST!!!!
I’m so glad you like my recipes Alicia. I would just eat the avocado with chips/crudite as a snack. I wouldn’t recommend freezing as it might split once you thaw it.
These look delicious!
Thanks Sabrina! They really are.
It is lovely that you think of your mom, and have such beautiful memories of her. I do too, with mine, and think exactly the same things, on how she did it all, how she managed, and still was the best mom ever. Trust me, although you are having your days of stress and impatience, your kids still know that you are the best mom ever. (but I understand fully how you feel)
These veggie rosti’s sound awesome. I often throw together a version of veggie rosti’s and it always changes 🙂 depending on what is in the fridge, no measurements or quantities happen with me….I love the idea of the avo cream, so will be trying that with your version of rosti 🙂 Have a great weekend. You are a great mom !
Thanks Lynne! We all try our best. 🙂 let me know what you think of the recipe once you’ve tried it.
Alida: anytime you try to be the same as someone else you set yourself up for disappointment. Be yourself, be aware of your emotions and possible reactions with the kids and be honest with your kids about how you are feeling in an age-appropriate way.
Strive to be a better person, mother, friend, but acknowledge you are only human. You will fall down and skin your knee, bunches of times – it’s the getting back up with a plan to do better and a commitment to see it happens that makes all the difference in the world.
Know that everyone is different and we all do things differently. I would venture that your mom had the same doubts and insecurities as you do and worried about being a good mom, just like you. No one has all the answers, just the ability to make it “look” effortless.
Remember to take time for yourself to recharge too – it helps in the handling emotions department.
Love your recipes and website – you are awesome girl – own that and believe in yourself!
Thanks Vicki!