Spring is finally here you say? Well, not around these parts. It’s cold and wet, and there’s snow on the ground—comfort food weather. And is there anything more comforting than melted cheese?
Today’s recipe, one of two dishes called frico, is something like a potato pancake, only you pile on lots of cheese, specifically a mild Alpine cheese called Montasio (see Notes). The cheese melts into the potato and forms a delicious round of goodness, warm and creamy on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside. Washed down with a glass of red wine, frico can really help cheer the spirits on a gloomy evening. Almost makes you wish winter would stick around for a while longer…
Personally I would serve frico on its own as an antipasto or vegetarian second, although it’s substantial enough to be a piatto unico. I understand frico is sometimes served along with polenta, which sound really filling…
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
- 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 700g (1-1/2 lbs) potatoes, peeled and diced
- 350g (3/4 lb) Montasio cheese, coarsely shredded or cut into small dice
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil, lard, or lardo minced into a paste
- 75g (2-1/2 oz) pancetta, guanciale or speck, cut into small dice (optional)
Directions
Sauté the onion gently in the olive oil or lard or minced lardo in a skillet (nonstick is best) until soft and translucent, along with the pancetta, guanciale or speck if using.
Add the potatoes and mix together with the onions. Season generously with salt and pepper, then add a glassful of water and cover. Let the potatoes simmer until soft, adding more water if necessary. Uncover and let any remaining liquid evaporate, smashing the potato with a wooden spoon into a very rough purée. (Leave some of the potato dice whole for a more interesting texture.)
Add the cheese and fold it well into the potato and onion. Stir from time to time over gentle heat until the cheese melts completely. Continue simmering for another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened enough that it forms a solid mass.
Now flatten out the mixture and turn the heat up. Let the mixture form a nice brown crust on the bottom, then flip it over and let it brown on the other side, as if you were making a frittata, about 3-5 minutes per side. (Repeat if need be to get a nice crust.)
Serve immediately, while the cheese is still warm and creamy.
Notes on Frico
The star of this dish is Montasio cheese. This cow’s milk cheese has been around since the 13th century, traditionally made by monks living in the Moggio abbey, located in the Carnic Alps staddle Friuli and neighboring Austria. The cheese takes its name from the nearby mountain named the Jôf di Montasio. A young Montasio is aged 2 to 5 months, producing a mild tasting semi-hard cheese. An older Montasio is aged 12 months, producing a hard grating cheese with a much sharper flavor. It’s the young type you will want for this dish, although some recipes call for a bit of the older type, too, for flavor.
Montasio can be hard to find in stores, although you can order it online. Otherwise, you can substitute another mildly flavored semi-hard Alpine cheese like Emmenthal or gruyère or a young Asiago, or perhaps a Fontal. Any meltable cheese that you like, really, will produce something delicious. After all, with sautéed onions and potatoes and melted cheese, how can you go wrong?
Variations
There are any number of ways to make frico. There are different ways to treat the potatoes. They can be sliced, cut into chunks or grated rather than diced, each producing a different texture in the final product. In some recipes, you boil or steam the potatoes separately, then add them to the sautéed onion, let them sauté gently for a few minutes, then add the cheese and proceed from there. Some recipes call for a two pot method: You cook the onion-potato-cheese mixture over low heat in a saucepan over low heat, and then brown it in oil over higher heat in a separate skillet.
The cheese content varies widely from recipe to recipe. Some call for a very cheesy frico, with a 1:1 ratio of potato to cheese, double the 2:1 ratio shown here. And if you’re a real cheese maven, you could try this potato-less version of frico from Eleanora Baldwin.
NB: There is another, quite distinct dish also called frico. It is made entirely from Montasio, usually the hard, aged variety, but sometimes using a mix of aged and semi-aged cheeses. You fry the cubed or grated cheese in a non-stick skillet over moderate heat until brown on the bottom, then flip it over and brown it on the other side until you have a thin, round crisp. If laid over a small bowl to cool, the crisps form a basket. Otherwise, you can lay them on paper towels to absorb the excess grease and serve them as an antipasto or snack.
Frico
Ingredients
- 1 small onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 700 g 1-1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
- 350 g 3/4 lb Montasio cheese, coarsely grated or cut into small dice
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil lard, or lardo minced into a paste
- 75 g 2-1/2 oz pancetta or Speck (optional)
Instructions
- Sauté the onion gently in the olive oil or lard in a skillet (nonstick is best) until soft and translucent, along with the pancetta or speck if using.
- Add the potatoes and mix together with the onions. Season generously with salt and pepper, then add a glassful of water and cover. Let the potatoes simmer until soft, adding more water if necessary. Uncover and let any remaining liquid evaporate, smashing the potato with a wooden spoon into a very rough purée, leaving some of the potato dice whole.
- Add the cheese and fold it well into the potato and onion. Stir from time to time over gentle heat until the cheese melts completely. Continue simmering for another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened enough that it forms a solid mass.
- Now flatten out the mixture and turn the heat up. Let the mixture form a nice brown crust on the bottom, then flip it over and let it brown on the other side, as if you were making a frittata, about 3-5 minutes per side, (Repeat if need be to get a nice crust.)
- Serve immediately, while the cheese is still warm and creamy.
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47 Comments on “Frico”
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Thanks again Frank for the inspiration. Not having a similar cheese, I added a topping to the fried potatoes and onions of chopped smoked haddock and whisked up eggs (in omelette Arnold Bennett style) which puffed up under a hot grill. It was delicious and I’m going to try again with appropriate cheese soon.
I had the cooled down (perhaps potato free) into a bowl version some years ago, in Cividale. With a green salad in it. Delicious! Since I am a cheese fiend, but with Irish ancestors, I’ll be trying some compromise between your recipe and the one in the Cucchiao d’Argento website this weekend. We’ll see which of the Tyrolean or Friulian cheeses we can find in our cheese shop … in Piemonte.
Enjoy! I’m sure you’ll like it, whichever version you go for. Thanks for your comment, Michael.
Hi! I ran across this recipe when doing research. My co-worker and I are doing a food tour of Italy (His family is from Italy) and this was the last recipe of the cycle. I had to order the cheese from Amazon, and it got here a couple days ago. I have to say, WOW you are strong and talented! I didn’t have a masher, so after 25 minutes of cooking the diced potatoes, it took forever to get them mashed (I think next time I’ll have to grate them or cook them separately, then puree them.) Being able to flip this “pancake” without it breaking up requires talent I have discovered I don’t have. It took 4 spatulas and my husband burning his fingers a little to get this sucker flipped. The Montasio cheese was interesting with a subtle taste. Kind of a Romano or Asiago initial, with a baby swiss middle and a Medium White Cheddar finish. With the expense and rarity of Montasio cheese around here, I might have to find an alternative, but it was tasty, and even my husband liked it. My co-worker loved it.
Sounds like you may have been working with particularly firm-fleshed potatoes, or perhaps using a larger dice. I should have been more precise—the dice needs to be quite fine to avoid just the kind of problem you had. Or, as you say, you can try steaming the potatoes separately so they’re already tender before they go into the pan. And yes, flipping the pancake can be a bit tricky. If you check out my “two plate” method for flipping a frittata, I think you’ll find it’s more or less foolproof.
Anyway sorry you had all that trouble, but glad you enjoyed the final result!
Thank you again and again for these recipes! You made me really love the Italian cuisine.
Best wishes from Romania, Sir!
Thank you, Mala! Greetings to you, too. 🙂
We have a foot of snow on the ground and more coming on Sunday. (Momma Mia!) so this recipe is pure comfort for me. Bring me some melted cheese. Will be stopping at our cheese shop this weekend. I love this.
Enjoy! And I hope your snow is gone by now…
DROOLING over the photos dear Frank!:) We both love cheese ourselves, so we’re definitely gonna try to find Montasio, for an authentic taste. If we can’t we’ll use Naxos graviera (sweet, mild) or even a Dubliner(sharper)-mild Cheddar combo.
Thank you sooooo much for this recipe! You made us happy:)
xoxo
So glad, guys! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Yep, although it’s “apparantly” spring here in Scotland, it most definitely isn’t weather wise! It’s freezing outside. THIS is just the perfect comfort food I need. Potatoes and cheese all melted together. Yum!!
Thanks, Neil! Sorry about the weather, but then again misery loves company… 😉
Frank you are killing me with this recipe, it’s 11:30 pm and I suddenly feel ravenous. I should not read your blog after dinner!
Ha ha! Or just indulge… Thanks for stopping by, Letizia!
always a pleasure!
A favorite of Mio Marito’s any time of the day or night. Dear friends from Friuli generously carry the wonderful Montasio back for us, such a treat.
Lucky you, Paula!
This looks so good! I might have this during some warm months, too. Any excuse for potatoes and cheese!!!
Couldn’t agree more, Mimi. 😉
This recipe reminds me of Rösti potatoes. We had one in a small town Swiss restaurant that they literally stuffed with cheese, it was awesome! I’m definitely bookmarking for a dinner party starter.
Thanks, Eva. I didn’t realize that Rösti was made with cheese. They do sound a lot like frico that way. I’ll have to try them soon.
I must admit that I’m not familiar with frico, but this sounds like an amazing comfort food meal on a cold night! Cheese + potatoes. How can you go wrong there? Also, your comment about guanciale reminded me of when I went hunting for it around here. I had no luck, but good thing pancetta works in its place. This almost makes me want more cold weather…well, almost… 🙂
Yes, almost… lol! Thanks for stopping by, David.
A nice recipe Frank. I like Montasio Cheese and I will try it. My son will love it. Un abbraccio, Paola
Thanks!
My goodness, this sounds like the most incredible comfort food. And your pictures are gorgeous.
Thanks, Jeff!
This is comfort food at its best. What an interesting way to cook a potato pancake filled with cheese, it must be so delicious. I have to try it.
I do heartily recommend it, Gerlinde, if you like cheese!
This is such a delicious and simple dish. I remember eating it first in Cividale, up in the Friuli region, where it is omnipresent. It’s quite heavy though, so a little goes a long way.
It certainly does, although my cheese addiction means that I can eat a whole one myself… 😉
This looks fabulous, Frank! And good news for everyone – I just found young Montasio cheese in Trader Joes! Are used it when making ricotta gnocchi.
Sorry your spring weather is more winter-like! You should come to Tucson!
That is great news, David. Thanks for sharing! And yes, one of these days I’m going to make it to Tucson. And Scottsdale, as I really want to check out Taliesen West. I wanted to be an architect when I was young, and FLW was my idol…
I have never made rico here in London, because montassi is very, very difficult to find. I tried the cheese only version in Hazan (Marcella cucina) using Parmigiano and it was ok, a little too unctuous perhaps (as she herself noted I think)… Friuli is a very interesting area food wise, with lots of austro-hungarian links – worth exploring it..ciao st
I have to admit, I never did make it up there, although I think I’d really enjoy it. Will have to remedy that some day!
Fricking frico sounds FABULOUS! Haha! OMG, this is sooooo my thing! Love potatoes and cheese so much, in fact, I made gattò di patate TWICE this past week! Have you ever had that, Frank? My mother found the recipe in Il Cucchiaio d’Argento (I have it on my site). Like you said, pure comfort food! Will be making this for sure!
Thanks, Christina! This is my kind of things, too. And yes, I’ve had gattò and indeed have even blogged about it.. Another great cheese and potato dish! I’ll have to check out your version.
I’ve never had this dish! Looks perfect for the weather we’re having too — no snow but gloomy, rainy, chilly. This should perk things up! Thanks so much.
It certainly should, John. Thanks for stopping by!
Wow, Frank! Beautiful photos! They make me want to take a bite. 🙂
Well, I’m happy to hear that, Kath. There’s one sure way, of course, to satisfy that desire…
grazie infinite per aver fatto conoscere ai tuoi lettori una ricetta tipica della mia regione , il Friuli Venezia Giulia è un territorio così unico e particolare, luoghi e gastronomia che restano nel cuore di chi lo visita, buon we Frank, un abbraccio !
Prego, Chiara. È certamente una cucina che merita di essere più conosciuta!
OMG Frank I’m going to have to get out my fat pants!!! This looks delicious and is definitely on my to do list……
Ha ha! Thanks so much for the comment, Sharon. And no worries, if you have just one I don’t think you’ll need those fat pants… 😉