Breakfast Hash

It was difficult to know what to call this dish. A delicious combination of potato hash and shakshuka, with sausage tossed in for good measure, it seemed like ‘Breakfast Hash’ was the only viable option. The best of a bad bunch! Whatever you want to call this recipe, it’s certainly a recipe best suited to breakfast or brunch, served alongside a strong coffee for a spot of Sunday morning recuperation.

This recipe for breakfast hash is so simple that there isn’t much to say about the process itself. The only point worth raising is to ensure your potatoes are nice and crispy; it makes all the difference. A great way to achieve this – and a quick breakfast – would be to use leftover boiled, or even roasted potatoes and crisp them up in oil during the cooking process. It may be difficult to wind up with leftover spuds – they’re just too delicious – but sometimes it’s worth the effort.

Feel like adding a little more breakfast to your hash? Crack an egg or two into the pan just before you pop it in the oven. Skip the freshly chopped tomatoes and what you essentially have is a simple shakshuka with a few extras thrown in for good measure. What ever way you decide to enjoy your breakfast hash, it’s too simple, quick and delicious to ignore and will certainly set you up well for the day ahead, no matter how bad it’s been so far!

Breakfast Hash

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 4 cumberland sausages, or similar
• 250g new potatoes, quartered
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 fresh tomato, roughly chopped
• a small handful of coriander, finely sliced

Method:

1. Begin by heating up the olive oil in a large, shallow pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently until soft. Begin boiling the potatoes in salted water.
2. Meanwhile, pierce and fry the sausages in the sunflower oil until browned all over. Roughly chop the cooked sausage and add to the onion.
3. Once cooked, gently incorporate the potatoes and allow to crisp gently in the olive oil and sausage fat. Sprinkle over the salt and paprika.
4. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and preheat the oven to 200C/180C(fan). Once the oven is hot, crack in the eggs – if using – and transfer the pan to the oven, allowing it to slightly catch and caramelise on top.
5. Serve immediately with flatbread, the roughly chopped fresh tomato and the finely sliced coriander.

Cost: I suppose the only “expensive” ingredients here are the sausages, but even they can be found for a relatively cheap sum down your local butchers. Indeed, the entire breakfast/brunch hash can be prepared for as little as £2, but the price largely depends on the quality of your sausages. For a twist you could even spice things up with sausages of the merguez variety!