When I grew up, this was the left-overs go-to dish. Back then, we ate a lot of potatoes. Boiled potatoes, with thin skins that you peeled off at the table, was the staple starch. Left-over potatoes feature in salads, or in this hot dish.

Serves: 1. Prep: 5 minutes. Cooking time: 20 minutes.
Stores: in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Tools

• Chopping board
• Knife
• Frying pan
• Spatula

Ingredients

Per person:

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion
• 2-3 medium potatoes (about 250 grams)
• 0.5-1 courgette
• Pinch of ground cloves (optional)

For serving (all optional, you can have all, one or none, as you prefer):

• 1 raw egg yolk (served in a half-shell on top of the hash)
• 1 cooked beetroot, cut into cubes.
• Kosher dill spears or similar sweet-pickled cucumbers, cut into cubes.
• Capers.
• HP Sauce

Method

1. Heat the oil in the frying pan.
2. Chop the onion in 1 cm cubes and add to the pan.
3. Lower the heat in the frying pan and cook for a minute or two.
4. Meanwhile, chop the potatoes in 1 cm cubes and add to  the pan.
5. Chop the courgette in 1 cm cubes and add to the pan.
6. Sprinkle in the pinch of cloves.
7. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are mostly soft. Yes, they will stick to the pan, bits will go brown (that’s OK. And tasty!). The onions should be soft and can go a brown without the dish suffering. The courgettes are best somewhat cooked but they don’t have to be completely soft.

Variations

• Forest hash: Swap the courgette for as much mushroom as you can eat, add a couple of finely chopped or ground juniper berries when you’d add the cloves, and, if you have it, add chopped fresh thyme just before serving. It can be really quite refined.
• Moroccan hash: Swap the courgette for aubergine cut into 1 cm cubes and the cloves for a teaspoon of cumin. If you’ve got leftover tomato sauce, or roast sweet potatoes, serve them on the side.