Potato Cakes With Spicy Tomato Sauce
By: Claudia Yuskoff
Published: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 12:50am

Ingredients




(Tortitas de Papa con Salsa Roja)
Potato Cakes: 
2 large Russet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup of crumbled Cotija Cheese
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional - the Cotija cheese - (a salty cheese)
Freshly ground black pepper
Spicy Tomato Sauce (Salsa Roja)
Salsa Roja 
4 ripe tomatoes
1 garlic clove
1 – 2 fresh serranos, stem removed (add one at a time to test heat)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Preparation

1 Cakes preparation: 2 Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add peeled potatoes. 3 Cook until done but not soggy. 4 Drain thoroughly. 5 Add potatoes to a mixing bowl. 6 Add cheese and mash with a potato masher. 7 Beat in the eggs. 8 Season well with pepper (and salt, if desired) 9 Use the mixture to create round cakes (about 7-10 2 inches across) 10 Shape the cakes them with your palm. 11 Warm up vegetable oil in a skillet over med to high heat. 12 Fry cakes until golden on each side (carefully turn them so they don't fall apart). 13 Once cooked, lay cakes on a paper towel to drain excess oil. 14 Spicy Tomato Sauce preparation: 15 Add tomatoes and serrano chile in a saucepan and cover with water. 16 Cook over medium to high heat for 10 minutes. 17 Keep some of the water the tomatoes and chiles were cooked in. 18 In a blender, add the garlic, cooked tomatoes, chile and salt and puree and about a tsp of remaining water. Blend until smooth. Taste for salt. 19 Pour the warm sauce over the cakes and serve immediately. 20 Fantastic with corn tortillas!

About


This is my mother's recipe. Her mother (my granny) passed it down to her and now I cook this yummy treat for my family. These delicious potato cakes are very popular in my house. Whenever my mother cooked this dish when I was a kid, she would ask how many do you want: 2 or 3? and I'd say, "4 - 5!" The Cotija cheese is a key ingredient to this dish because it adds a wonderful texture to the potato mixture and salty flavor. In Mexico, this dish is often used as an appetizer without the salsa. I personally love them as a meal with the warm salsa poured over the top and served with soft corn tortillas. You don't need a fork. Just use the tortillas to scoop up the cakes together with the salsa and enjoy!