Hallowe'en chorizo and potato bake

We were destined for a charity night at The Chaser Inn this evening but The Woo's not well so we cancelled and decided to do a 'whatever's in the fridge and cupboards' night!

This one is dedicated to you, Lydia - budget student food that works out at about 75p per head.

In a pan I softened a sliced small onion in a bit of butter and some olive oil.  You want a fair bit of both/either or else the finished dish would be a bit dry.  To this I added a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, a couple of chopped up chillies and a squeeze of tomato puree.  In went a shake of dried oregano and about 6" of sliced chorizo.  This was gently cooked together until the chorizo had softened and the paprika had infused into the oil.

In a separate pan I had cooked a £1 bag of cheap new potatoes; weighing in at a kilo.  I tipped the drained spuds into an ovenproof dish and gently crushed them with a potato masher.  I poured the oniony, chorizoey mixture over the potatoes and gently mixed them together.  I poured over a bit more olive oil just to keep it all loose and unctuous.  A good lug of mature cheddar was grated over the top and then it was baked in a 180* oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese was golden brown and bubbling.

This would easily serve four hungry students as it is and, with the addition of a few chicken thighs or a pork chop (cheap!), would be a very, very filling meal indeed; a couple of thighs or a chop each and a good spoonful of the potatoes would stretch to six or even eight at a push.


To feed loads just up the amount of spuds and oil...the rest will stretch as it is!

As it stands we did it from the fridge but it works out at approx 75p per person for four.  With the chicken thighs or a good sized chop each; it's probably still less than £1.50 each....bargain!