Lefse
Norwegian potato flatbreads rolled paper thin and cooked on a dry griddle, folded over butter and cinnamon sugar.
Photo : Lance Fisher · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 70 min
- Serves
- 8
- Difficulty
- Medium
Method
- Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water for 25 minutes. Peel them hot and pass them through a ricer.
- Work the butter, cream, salt and sugar into the warm mash. Spread it on a tray and chill overnight.
- Next day, work the flour into the cold mash until you have a supple dough. Stop there.
- Divide into 16 balls. Keep them cold and take out one at a time.
- On a well-floured surface, roll each ball into a 25 cm disc, thin enough to make out the grain of the board beneath.
- Heat a cast-iron pan dry over high heat. Cook each round for 45 seconds a side, until brown spots appear.
- Stack the lefse under a tea towel so they stay pliable. Butter, dust with cinnamon sugar and roll up to serve.
The dough has to stay cold, or the starch releases its water and clings to the rolling pin. Norwegian kitchens use a grooved pin and a long flat stick that slides under the round to turn it without tearing.
