I’ll come clean and confess. I’m not a huge fan of Hanukkah’s starring food item, the Latke.
The poor lowly latke. From such humble origins of shredded potato…. It’s a Hanukkah staple and the holiday would not be complete without this fried potato pancake. Recipes abound for them. Sweet potato latkes, regular potato latkes, baked-not-fried latkes (which seems wrong when the whole point is fried food), latkes with parsnip, carrot and extra onion…
Whatever. You all can keep it up. If you manage to make your latkes gluten free, I will happily taste them. But you can’t fool me. What we have here is a fancy hashbrown.
Call me lazy, but I don’t like to grate, squeeze and drain potatoes and I don’t like the way my house smells after frying onions. I’d like to give a nod to the latke without letting it take over my life. So I’ve come up with an appetizer version with a nod to Thanksgiving flavors. These Latke tots are easy and fast enough to grace my table even when it’s not a once-a-millenium holiday mash up like Thanksgivukkah.
The secret ingredient? Tater tots. I used Trader Joes Brand because they are gluten free, and also delicious.
Latke Tots With Cranberry and Goat Cheese
Let bag of tater tots defrost on the kitchen counter for at least two hours so their outsides are softened.
Toss semi defrosted tater tots well with:
- 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp onion granules/or onion powder
- 1 tsp dried rosemary.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Spread out Tater tots on a silicon lined baking sheet – give them space – you will be smashing them
Bake for about 7-10 minutes and remove from oven. Using a spoon or fork, gently mash down the softened tater tots to flatten into a pancake shape. Return to the over for another 7 to ten minutes or until they are the desired crispness. Top with crumbled goat cheese and your favorite cranberry relish. We used Cranberry-Orange relish from Trader Joes.
Serve immediately! These pass well as an appetizer and pair perfectly with a shot of vodka if you are having a “latkes and vodka” appetizer theme for your Thanksgivukkah gathering.
Make sure to check out my other easy and delicious recipe for Corn Kugel.
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