Crisp Vegetable Rosti with Smoked Salmon

Rosti began as a Swiss way of using up potatoes, grated and fried into one golden cake. This version takes that idea and fills it with whatever green and orange things are sitting in the crisper. Kumara, the orange sweet potato, brings a natural sweetness and a bit of colour, silver beet adds earthy leaf, and zucchini keeps everything moist. The trick that matters most is the squeeze. Grated vegetables hold a surprising amount of water, and if you leave it in, the patties steam instead of crisp. Wrap the grated kumara, shallots, silver beet and zucchini in a clean tea towel and wring it hard, over the sink, until very little drips out. You will be surprised how much comes away.

Kumara is worth knowing a little better. It is a sweet potato grown in New Zealand and Australia, and the orange flesh is where most of its beta carotene lives. Cooked or raw, it grates well because it is firm and dense, which is why it holds its shape in a patty better than a soft, floury spud would. Silver beet is the same leafy green you may know as Swiss chard. Shred it fine so the ribs cook through with the rest, or slice the white stalks off and save them for a stir-fry.

Once the patties are in the pan, leave them alone. Pressing them down gently helps them touch the oil, but if you keep flipping them you will tear the edges. Give each side a few minutes until it is deeply golden. The spelt flour is a gentle binder and gives a nutty note that suits the smoked salmon, though a plain wholemeal flour works just as well.

For leftovers, the cooked rosti keep in the fridge for a day or two. Reheat them in a dry pan rather than the microwave, which makes them soft. You can also make the raw mixture ahead, though grated vegetables will weep a little, so wring them again just before frying. Serve these with a simple green salad dressed in lemon, or pair them with a bowl of warm barley with cherries and fetta if you want something more filling. A roasted root vegetable tray also sits nicely alongside on a weeknight. If you are feeding a crowd, a slow cooker garden vegetable soup makes an easy starter.