Vegetable Bubble and Squeak

This recipe is based on the traditional ‘bubble and squeak’ where all your leftovers are cooked up together to make a tasty meal the next day. I never have that many leftovers of things that would be suitable but this dish is so tasty that it is worth cooking everything especially for it. You can mix up the different ingredients depending on what you have in the fridge or garden at the time.

If you are careful when you turn it out from the pan you can create an amazing looking dish that can be used as a centre-piece for your meal – and it tastes delicious!

500g potatoes (new potatoes are good)
150g peas (fresh or frozen)
150g broad beans (fresh or frozen)

1 large courgette
1 large carrot
2 spring onions
Large bunch of spinach
Large handful of fresh herbs (I used rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley)

Feta cheese (50-100g if you have some to use up)

Cut the potatoes to even up the sizes and cook in a large pan of boiling water until tender (about 20 mins), adding the peas and beans for the last minute. Drain.

While the potatoes are cooking, cut up the carrot and courgette into 1cm chunks. Chop the spring onions, spinach and herbs. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and then add these vegetables and herbs. Cook for about 15 mins until they turn golden and caramelised.

Add the drained potatoes, peas and beans to the frying pan and start mashing them up as you stir them in. Allow to brown a bit on the bottom and then mash and stir again – for about 15 mins. I stirred through some crumbled feta at this stage along with some salt and pepper. Then flatten the vegetables into the pan and cook for a final 5 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.

Turn out onto a platter – if you are careful you can turn it out in one piece. I spread some hummus over the centre, sprinkled over some dukkah and drizzled some rose harissa over the top. But you could top it with anything you have to use up such as labneh and perhaps some chilli oil and rosemary. Slice into wedges and serve. I served mine with soft boiled eggs, avocado and some capsicum and chilli jam.