Swiss & Cheddar POTATO TORTE

SWISS & CHEDDAR POTATO TORTE

Table of Contents: VEGETABLES

Be sure to use the full amount of both of the cheeses that the recipe requires.  The cheeses are the “glue” that hold the inverted potato dish in shape.

Mild paprika

9 medium-sized Idaho potatoes

1 cup Swiss cheese, coarsely grated

2 cups Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

4 green onions, chopped with the green tops

2 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

4 T. butter or margarine, keep butter cold in the refrigerator until time to dice

Fresh parsley sprigs or chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare a deep 2 or 3 quart round casserole with spray-oil, and sprinkle the inside of the bowl with paprika.  Peel the potatoes, and place in a bowl; cover with cold water to prevent potatoes from turning dark.   Mix the grated cheeses together and place in a mound on a large sheet of waxed paper.

Slice the green onions including the green tops, and place in a mound on the waxed paper.

Slice the potatoes as thin as possible; then sprinkle with the salt and pepper and stir vigorously to mix into the sliced potatoes.

Dice the cold butter on the sheet of waxed paper.

Begin making layers:

If possible, do not allow any of the cheese to get against the baking dish, since it will melt and adhere to the dish, making it harder to release the torte when the dish is inverted.

A thin layer of sliced potatoes

Sprinkle with some of the cheese mixture

Sprinkle with a few green onions

Dot with some butter pieces

Repeat layers, keeping the layers thin, until all ingredients are used.

Cover the casserole and bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour or until cheeses are bubbling and the top of the potatoes are lightly browned.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and uncover.  Immediately run a flat-blade knife around the inside edge of the baking dish to keep cheeses from adhering to the dish.  Wait a minute and repeat.

Allow the dish to cool for about 15 minutes; then invert the dish onto a platter more than large enough to hold the torte.  The potatoes should retain the shape of the baking dish.  If some of the potatoes slip out of the baking dish shape; then gently press the potatoes back into shape.  Garnish with parsley.  Allow the torte to slightly cool and set before cutting.   To serve, cut like a cake.