Fried Potatoes with Kashkaval Cheese

Serves
serves 4-6
Time
1 hour 40 minutes

NEAL SANTOS

Published on December 23, 2015

Piquant kashkaval, a Balkan cows' or sheep's milk cheese, and mildly spicy shifka peppers, native to Israel, add sharpness to the fried potatoes. If you can't find shifkas, jarred pepperoncini work just as well.

Featured in: Eating Israel with Michael Solomonov

Ingredients

2 ¹⁄₄ lb. baby purple and gold potatoes
2 tbsp. kosher salt, plus more
Vegetable oil, for frying
¹⁄₄ cup (about 1 oz.) finely grated kashkaval cheese
¹⁄₄ cup olive oil
¹⁄₄ cup thinly sliced shifka peppers or jarred pepperoncini
4 anchovies in oil, drained and minced
1 cup loosely packed arugula
Freshly ground black pepper

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Instructions

Step 1

In a 6-qt. saucepan, combine the potatoes with the 2 tablespoons salt and 2 quarts water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a cutting board. Gently press each potato to flatten slightly, while keeping each potato whole.

Step 2

In the 6-qt. saucepan, pour enough vegetable oil to come 2 inches up the side. Gently place the potatoes into the cold oil, bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook until they turn dark golden brown and are crisp, about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes.

Step 3

While the potatoes are frying, make the dressing: In a large bowl, stir the cheese, olive oil, peppers, and anchovies together until evenly combined. Use a slotted spoon to drain the potatoes from the oil and transfer to the bowl with the dressing along with the arugula. Quickly toss the potatoes to coat with the dressing, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

In a 6-qt. saucepan, combine the potatoes with the 2 tablespoons salt and 2 quarts water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a cutting board. Gently press each potato to flatten slightly, while keeping each potato whole.
In the 6-qt. saucepan, pour enough vegetable oil to come 2 inches up the side. Gently place the potatoes into the cold oil, bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook until they turn dark golden brown and are crisp, about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes.
While the potatoes are frying, make the dressing: In a large bowl, stir the cheese, olive oil, peppers, and anchovies together until evenly combined. Use a slotted spoon to drain the potatoes from the oil and transfer to the bowl with the dressing along with the arugula. Quickly toss the potatoes to coat with the dressing, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.