Italian Potato Cake

A delicious and filling meal! Serve with a green salad.

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra unsalted butter, for greasing pan
10 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs
6 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 large eggs
12 ounces italian Fontina cheese, sliced thin*
1/2 lb thinly sliced salami, cut into 1/2 inch pieces*
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese or romano cheese

Directions:

Move oven rack to middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch springform pans and sprinkle each with 1/4 cup bread crumbs. Shake the pans to evenly spread out the crumbs. Put the potatoes in a large pot and add cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat then lower heat to a simmer. Cook until tender, around 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot. Mash them with 8 tablespoons butter until smooth. Add the cream, salt and pepper and stir until well mixed. Let it cool for 5 minutes then stir in the eggs one at a time. Spoon half the potatoes into the prepared springform pans. Layer the slices of fontina cheese over the potatoes and then layer the salami pieces over the cheese. Cover with the rest of the potatoes. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and mix with the rest of the bread crumbs (2 tablespoons). Mix in the Parmesan cheese and sprinkle this mixture over the top of the potatoes. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until cakes are very hot and puffed and the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and run a paring knife around the cakes to loosen from the sides and let it stand for 10 minutes before removing the sides of the pans. Serve hot.

Serves: 12-14

*Note: Instead of using fontina cheese and salami (which can be rather expensive), try using mozzarella cheese and sliced ham or provolone cheese and pepperoni.