Frico is Friuli’s potato-and-Montasio skillet cake, browned until crisp outside while the centre stays soft, savoury and visibly threaded with melted cheese.
Frico is one of Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s emblematic dishes. Italia.it describes the best-known potato version as a pie of potatoes and local cheese, traditionally Montasio, with a crisp crust and a soft, stringy centre. That contrast is the defining target of this recipe.
The dish has several forms, including thin crisp frico made almost entirely from cheese. The verified photographs instead show a broad golden cake with visible potato structure, so this version is the soft potato-and-onion frico rather than the wafer-like cheese crisp.
Potatoes need to become tender before the cheese is asked to bind them. Coarse grating keeps enough structure to read as potato while shortening the cooking time. Onion softens first and gives sweetness without turning the final cake into a strongly browned hash.
Montasio supplies salt, fat and the characteristic dairy flavour. A relatively young cheese melts most smoothly; using some slightly more mature Montasio deepens flavour but can make the cake firmer. Once the cheese enters, the mixture is pressed into a single round rather than stirred continuously.
The final flip is both visual and technical. The underside must be well set and deep golden before the cake is turned. A plate or lid makes the manoeuvre safer than trying to toss a heavy cheese-and-potato cake in the air.
Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook for 6–7 minutes until soft and translucent without deep browning.
The onion should bend easily and smell sweet, with little colour.
Add the grated potatoes, season lightly with salt and pepper, cover and cook for 10–12 minutes, stirring every few minutes. If the pan is very dry, add 1–2 tablespoons of water.
The potato shreds should be tender enough to crush between the spatula and pan.
Lower the heat and add the grated Montasio in three additions, folding until the cheese is distributed and begins to melt around the potato.
The mixture should become cohesive and glossy without a large pool of separated fat.
Press the mixture into an even 2–3 cm-thick round, smoothing the top and tucking in loose edges.
The cake should move as one mass when the skillet is shaken gently.
Cook over medium heat for 7–9 minutes without stirring, rotating the skillet occasionally for even heat. Loosen the edges with a spatula.
The underside should be a deep even gold and release from the pan.
Slide the frico onto a flat plate, invert the skillet over it and turn the cake back into the pan. Cook another 6–8 minutes.
Both faces should be crisp and browned while the centre remains soft.
Transfer to a board or platter and rest 5 minutes before cutting into wedges.
The wedges should hold shape but still show melted, soft cheese between potato pieces.
Friuli also has a thin, crisp cheese-only frico. The photographed dish is the thicker potato version with a soft centre and is treated separately here.
Young Montasio gives the easiest melt. A portion of semi-mature cheese can add flavour, but very aged cheese makes the centre less elastic.
If freshly grated potatoes are extremely wet, squeeze only lightly. Some moisture helps them steam tender before the crust forms.
Frico is excellent immediately from the skillet and is often paired with polenta, but the cake is substantial enough to serve on its own.
Montasio age and salinity have a large effect on sodium and fat.
Contains milk.
Keep cheese refrigerated until use and handle the hot, heavy cake carefully when flipping; use a stable plate and dry oven gloves.
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use within 3 days; reheat until steaming hot and re-crisp in a skillet if desired.
No. A separate crisp version can be made mainly from cheese, while this soft frico combines potatoes, onion and Montasio.
Montasio is the defining Friulian choice. Young Montasio melts most smoothly for the soft potato version.
A five-minute rest lets the molten cheese settle just enough for clean wedges without losing the soft centre.
