How To Make Lefse

Introduction

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Over the last few years a few of us from my family have been carving out a new family tradition of making Norwegian Lefse for Christmas. For those of you who don’t know the goodness of lefse, it is basically a very thin, very soft tortilla-like circle made up of a mixture of potatoes and milk. Typically you spread butter and sugar on it then roll it up and eat it, but some people eat it without sugar or you can eat it with a turkey dinner and dip it in gravy. No matter which method you’re choosing, it’s really delicious.

The problem with making lefse is that relatively few people know how to make it, and there is good reason for this. The following are the reasons people don’t try making lefse:

You need special equipment. You can get around some of the more expensive tools as described below.
It’s time consuming – there are a lot of steps involved in the process of lefse making. One of these steps is to store the initial potato mixture in the refrigerator overnight. That in itself is enough to turn most people off. Let’s just say that if you get annoyed when you have to make mac & cheese out of a box then lefse-making probably isn’t for you.
It’s messy – there’s flour…everywhere. Not too many dirty dishes, though.
Misconception: It’s too difficult. There are a lot of steps, but they’re all simple. You just need to know what they are and how to do them. That’s why this project page exists.

Despite these negative outlooks on the lefse process, there are a lot of good reasons to try it out.

Lefse is delicious
If you have any Scandinavian ancestry, you get the joy of experiencing some traditional cooking techniques from your heritage.
You get to tell all the kids/coworkers/inmates at school/work/prison that you made your own lefse! That is quite an impressive feat.
If you make lefse with family and friends during the holidays it can be a good opportunity to spend time with each other.

Now that we have covered the pros/cons, let’s get into the process.

Equipment

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You can get each item seperately, but it looks like you can also buy everything together in a starter kit for about $150. That's a bit cheaper than buying everythign seperate. You can get everything off amazon.com but there is likely many websites out there to buy the equipment. If you're in a larger city you can probably get these items at a specialty store or a gourmet kitchen store.

Here is a list of all the equipment necessary. All prices are what I found on Amazon.com when I wrote this. They seem reasonable, but you might be able to find better prices somewhere else.

Rolling Pin ($15.99)
Here is an example of a typical Lefse rolling pin. It is wooden and it has circular ridges around the outside. I think these ridges hold in flower and prevent too much surface area from going against the work surface. Personally I think you could use a standard rolling pin with a (clean) sock over the top, but I haven't tried this.
Cloth Rolling Pin Cover ($6.50)
Again...some day I'm going to try using a new sock. But then for the price of two rolling pin covers, what's the point of using a sock?
Lefse Griddle ($89.99)
These griddles come in two different kinds, aluminum and non-stick surface. I suggest the non-stick surface since it's only $10 more. The aluminum one tends to get bits stuck on it while you're working so you tend to have to scrape it off once in a while during the process. If you don't want to buy a specialty grill like this you can always just cook on a pancake griddle or even a frying pan. You might not be able to get the lefse circles as large as you could with a grill, but that's OK - just make the lefse balls smaller.
Wooden Lefse-Turning Stick ($9.95)
I think the wider, thinner turning sticks are better, but some people like to use a narrow one. I guess it's a personal preference.
Potato Ricer ($11.99)
There's not too much to say about this one. Boiled potatoes go into the top and get squished out of the holes. I imagine a person could get creative and use a blender or something.
Cloth-Covered Pastery Board ($22.99)
A pastry board is used to roll out your lefse. It's covered in cloth so it holds in the flour that you rub into it. After you're done using it you just throw it into the washing machine with the rolling pin covers.

Ingredients

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There are many recipes for making lefse, and some of them are mentioned in the links at the end of this project. This is a recipe we have used in my family for quite a few years now. Some people would rather use butter or lard in place of vegetable oil, but that's a personal preference. You can try a couple different recipes for yourself and see what you like.

There are Norwegian recipes for lefse that date back to the early 1600's. Potatoes didn't make their way to Norway until the mid-1700's, so the original lefse didn't even contain potatoes. These days most lefse is made with potatoes.

Here is the ingredients used for the recipe in this project page:

8 cups riced potatoes (about a 5 pound bag)
¾ cup vegetable oil
½ cup evaporated milk
½ cup sugar
2 tsp salt
3 cups flour

This is for a single batch which yields about 15 lefse circles. Last time we made a double batch because we had a lot of people participating. To prevent confusion I will reference all the measurements in this project assuming you are making a single batch.

It's perfectly fine to make more than you can eat because lefse survives freezing really well. Just don't make the mistake of letting the finished lefse sit on the counter for more than a few days. Since it's so moist it molds very quickly and that can be heart-wrenching to see your lefse turn moldy.

Mixing and Preparing

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The first step is to peel all your potatoes. Keep a big pot of water next to you as you are peeling. Peel the potato skins into the sink then throw the peeled potatoes into the pot of water. After all the potatoes are peeled, put the pot on the stove and start heating. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat down to medium and cook it for about an hour. You can confirm that the potatoes are soft enough by sticking a fork into a big one. If it falls appart then it is cooked enough to use.

Once all your potatoes are boiled up, drain all the water out. Now you can start ricing them. Put a few potatoes into your ricer and squeeze them into a bowl. If you have a big measuring cup you can rice directly into it. Otherwise you can rice them into a large mixing bowl and scoop them out with a measuring cup afterwards.

When you have all the potatoes riced, transfer 8 cups into a big mixing bowl. If you have one of those mixers that stands on the counter then I would use that so you can just keep adding as it mixes. Otherwise you'll just have to use your muscles.

Mix in the sugar, oil and evaporated milk.

Once these ingredients are mixed it is ready to store in the fridge overnight. Before you put the bowl in the fridge, cover the top of the potato mixture with a layer of paper towels. This will keep any excess moisture from collecting on the potatoes. Stretch some saran wrap over the top of the bowl to keep it contained and to keep foreign "fridge-smells" from getting into the lefse and tarnishing the flavor.

Forming the Balls

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After the potato mixture has sat overnight in the fridge it is ready for the remaining steps. Remove the saran wrap and paper towels from the bowl and discard. Start adding the flour one cup at a time. Mix two thirds of the flour now, and reserve the rest of your flour to add as you are rolling. Too much flour will make the dough too springy and prevent the prevent you from being able to roll it really thin and flat.

Start rolling the mixture into balls about the size of your palm. If you are unsure about the size of the balls, just roll a few of them initially. Once you try rolling them out you can see if they are too big or too small. When you have a few balls made, place them in a bowl and put the rest of the mixture back into the fridge.

Prepare the pastry board for rolling. Sprinkle a generous coating of flour onto the board and spread it around with your hand. Rub it really well into the fabric of the pastry board to get it into all the surfaces of the fabric. Pat down a lefse ball in your hands to flatten it a bit, then place it in the center of the well-floured pastry board. Sprinkle some more flour on top of the lefse before you start rolling.

Rolling the Lefse Flat

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Before you start rolling the lefse make sure you thoroughly coat the rolling pin with flour. The cloth covering holds onto the flour and prevents the rolling pin from sticking to the surface of the lefse. Start rolling the dough very gently. Pressing too firmly into the board will result in the dough soaking into the cloth of the pastry board. If you let the dough soak into the surface even once it will continuously be a trouble spot as it is extremely hard to get the dough out of the surface until you wash it again.

After the lefse gets flattened out to the size of a small plate you can flip it once. Before you place it down on the pastry board again rub in some more flour. After it is placed, rub some more flour onto the top of the lefse and start rolling again.

Keep rolling it out very gently until it gets to the size you want. It's a good idea to flip it again if you have been rolling for a while. The lefse absorbs flour as you keep rolling and so if you don't flip it then it becomes easier to get stuck to the pastry board.

This is what it looks like when you roll out the lefse too hard. It sticks to the surface of the board - then as you try to slide the turning stick under the lefse you end up tearing a big hole in it. If this happens you are better off just balling it up again and starting over. You could keep flattening it and it will look OK, but when it warms up on the grill it gets really soft and it will be much easier to tear. If it tears apart after you cook it you can't re-ball it and start over so you'll have to scrap it (or eat it). It's better to spend an extra 3 minutes rolling it again from ball form.

The lefse gets extremely thin by the time you're done with it. you should be able to see the lefse turning stick through the lefse by the time it's done. The size of the lefse can be as large as the grill itself. However, the closer you get to the actual size of the grill the more careful you'll have to be when you lay it down the first time. You need to start laying it as close as possible to the edge of the grill or it will hang off the edge.

Be careful that you lay it down smoothly without any folds. IF you get a fold in the lefse or you accidentally let a small piece lay over the edge JUST LEAVE IT. If you try to move it you'll most likely rip the lefse. It will cook just fine when you flip it over.

Cooking

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You'll have to try out a few times to get the hang of how long to cook it on each side. It doesn't take long so don't go walking away from it or you'll end up burning it. How long you cook it is also a personal preference. Generally you don't want it over cooked because it will be dried out and not soft anymore. If you don't cook it long enough it will rip when you pick it up or it will rip when you spread butter on it after it is done.

Initially it will start steaming, then it will start to bubble. You can peak at the under-side with the turning stick to see how well it is cooked. If the bubles start forming it's almost time to turn it over. If you think you undercooked it you can always cook it a bit more on the other side.

When you think it's cooked well enough, slide the turning stick under the lefse and lift it up. Lay it down starting at one edge of the grill. Rotate the stick in your hands until the lefse is laying from edge to edge again.

Let the lefse sit a bit longer on the grill after flipping. It will only take another minute or so until it's done.

How to eat lefse

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There are as many ways of eating lefse as there are people who eat it. It's a pretty versatile food. Here are the most common ways of eating lefse.

Butter with Sugar
Butter with Sugar and Cinnamon
Butter with Brown Sugar
Butter only (lefse-klining)
Plain

Here are some other ways to eat lefse that are not as common:

Rolled around breakfast sausage
Rolled around a hot dog (pølse med lompe)
Rolled up with ham and eggs
Stuffed with lutefisk and potatoes
Butter with smoked salmon and goat cheese
Rakfisk (pickled trout) with potatoes, onion and sour cream
Butter with honey
Butter with jam or lingonberries
Peanut Butter with sugar
Cream cheese with vegetables

Lefse is often eaten along with something else such as beef roasts or other meats. It can be dipped into gravy or cranberry sauce as a side dish. It is sometimes wrapped up with meat on the inside then gravy is drizzled over the top. Sometimes it is prepared in one of the many ways mentioned, then sliced up into segments with toothpicks inserted through them. They can then be served as a party snack.

As you can see it is a very versatile food with lots of different options for your eating pleasure. If you have some pictures of lefse various ways of preparing lefse, please add them here.

Links

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General Info