Potato cakes with goats’ cheese – #CookForUkraine

Author Olia Hercules is working with #CookForUkraine to increase awareness of the humanitarian crisis the world faces right now, as well as raise the funds needed to aid children & families in Ukraine who have been displaced by the current situation. Please visit Cook For Ukraine to contribute. All proceeds will be directed to UNICEF UK’s Ukraine appeal.

Goats are huge where I come from. They are superstars. They are everywhere. Every Sunday morning, the neighbour’s goat would come and graze right underneath my window, bleating its annoying goat song. Yet we don’t really cook them. My

grandmother apparently slow-cooked goat, but these days they are mainly used for milk. Raw goats’ milk was my biggest nightmare, but here I am bringing the more palatable side of goatiness to Ukraine’s favourite potato cakes. They are amazing

served with some roast duck and Blackberry Sauce.

Serves 2 as a side

500g (1lb) floury potatoes, peeled and roughly grated

1 small onion, roughly grated

1 small carrot, peeled and roughly grated

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons plain flour

30g (1oz) goats’ cheese, mashed with a fork

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line a baking sheet with some baking parchment

2. Mix everything except the oil together in a bowl and season really well with salt and pepper.

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, drop separate desserts poonfuls of the mixture into the pan and fry them for 2 minutes. Carefully flip them over and fry on the other side until golden.

4. Pop the potato cakes on the prepared baking sheet and finish cooking them through in the oven – they should take 5–10 minutes.

This recipe is from Mamushka: Recipes from Ukraine and beyond by Olia Hercules

Please visit Cook For Ukraine to contribute.