Pitpanna is a classic Nordic dish made from fried potatoes, meat, and caramelized onions, also known as biksemad in Denmark and pyttipannu in Finland. It is traditionally made from leftovers, but can also be made with fresh meat and served with a raw or fried egg on top. Vegan and vegetarian versions are also available.
Often described as a medley of food, a pitpanna is a classic dish from the Nordic countries of Sweden and Norway consisting of fried potatoes, meat and caramelized onions. The dish can also be found under various other names. In Denmark, it is known as biksemad, while in Finland it is called pyttipannu. Sometimes the dish may be listed as pytt i panna or pytt y panna or simply shortened to pytt.
A pitpanna bears similarities to a number of other hearty deep-fried dishes in other parts of the world. One example is corned beef hash, a dish found in the United States, which is a pan-fried concoction of diced onions and potatoes with corned beef. It has also been compared to bubble and squeak, a traditional English dish made of leftover vegetables such as potatoes and cabbage sautéed together in a pan.
Traditionally, a pitpanna is made from leftovers from other meals. Therefore, the type of meat added to the dish can vary based on what’s left of a family. You could use leftover Christmas roast, veal, or ham, as well as steak, pork, and bacon.
To make pitpanna, the ingredients are usually fried in oil or butter in a pan. The finely chopped onions are cooked until golden brown, then removed from the hot pan and replaced with diced potatoes, which are also cooked until golden brown. These potatoes can be pre-cooked, but raw potatoes could also be used. After the potatoes are removed from the pan, the remaining meat is cut up and thrown into the pan until the meat is heated through. Then the potatoes and onions are stirred into the meat mixture and the dish is left to continue cooking until brown and crispy.
Instead of making pitpanna from leftovers, however, it’s also becoming commonplace to make the dish with fresh, high-quality meats. If you’re making from raw meat, you may need to cook the meat first and probably need to saute for a longer period of time to become tender. In addition to the basic ingredients, mixed herbs, a clove of garlic or leftover greens are also included in some recipe variations.
Pitpanna is usually served with a raw egg yolk on top. Alternatively, a fried egg can be used to complement the dish. In fact, a second pan is usually used as the pitpanna in the last few moments of cooking to prepare a sunny-side-up egg or some other fried variety. Pickled red beets, capers, and sliced pickles are also commonly served on the side.
Today, Pyttipanna is still made at home, but ready-made versions can also be found in the frozen food section of supermarkets in Sweden and other Nordic countries where the dish is popular. Vegan and vegetarian varieties are also emerging that replace the meat used in the dish with mixed vegetables for a still filling dish that is lighter in calories and fat.
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