This is an easy recipe for those mornings when you want something substantial and savoury, but aren’t in the mood for something with eggs or bread.
Latkes are so underrated. They should be on more menus because you can cram so much goodness into them and no one’s the wiser, especially my little three year old!
My version has a bit of apple, garlic and onion in it and you could even make it with grated sweet potato or squash too. The main component just needs to be a starchy vegetable, especially if you’re not using flour as a binding agent.
If you want to save time in the morning, you can make up the raw mixture the night before, put it into the fridge and pull it out 10 minutes before you need to start cooking to bring it to room temperature.
Makes 10
What you need:
3 large white potatoes
1/4 onion
1/4 apple
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp salt
a sprig of fresh thyme
1 large egg
2 tbsp olive oil or duck fat
a non-stick pan
Greek yoghurt
How to make it:
Grate the potatoes, onion, apple and garlic into a bowl. I don’t bother peeling the potatoes or apple beforehand, as there’s a lot of nutrients in the skin.
Put the grated ingredients into a kitchen towel or muslin.
Squeeze out as much moisture as you can. The drier the mixture is, the better it will bind together when it cooks.
Crack an egg into a bowl and beat until the egg yolk and white are combined.
Put the mixture back into the bowl with the beaten egg and add the salt and thyme leaves. Then combine until the egg mixture has covered all of the grated ingredients.
Put your chosen fat into the pan and turn the stove onto medium heat. If the heat is too high, the outside will cook too quickly.
In the meantime, turn your oven on to 50-70C.
Working in batches of 3 latkes, spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of the mixture per latke into the pan and then flatten then out with the back of the spoon so that each latke is even. Cook for 3 minutes per side.
When each batch of latkes is cooked, transfer to a plate in the oven so they stay warm while you cook the others.
Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt. I also like to eat my latkes with shredded pork or chicken, to make them even more filling. Enjoy!