Butternut and Sweet Leek Hash

This all happens in half an hour in the pan. It’s also a great way to use up leftover, cooked root vegetables, which would make it even quicker. If you are vegan, skip the cheese and eggs and use 3 1/2 ounces/100 g of soaked cashews blended with 1/3 cup/100 ml of cold water in place of the yogurt. I make this for my family a lot, and it’s really good this way, too.

Ingredients

• 2 leeks

• 1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil

• 14 ounces/400 g new potatoes

• 1/2 medium butternut squash

• A few fresh chives

• A few sprigs of parsley

• 4 tablespoons crème fraîche or yogurt

• 1/2 lemon

• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

• A crumble of Lancashire or cheddar cheese (optional)

• 4 free-range or organic eggs (optional)

A Modern Way to Cook

Directions

Fill and boil a kettle of water and get your ingredients together. Put a large nonstick pan over medium heat.

Wash the leeks, then finely shred them and add them to the pan with a little of the coconut oil. Stir every couple of minutes.

While the leeks are cooking, cut the potatoes into 1-cm pieces and put them into a large saucepan. Pour over boiling water from the kettle and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Seed the squash and cut into pieces about the same size as the potatoes. Once the potatoes have had 5 minutes, add the squash to the pan of boiling water for a final 3 minutes of cooking. Once the potatoes and squash have had their time and have softened a little, drain them and leave in the colander to steam-dry a little.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of the leeks into a deep bowl. Turn the heat up under the leek pan, add a little more oil if necessary, then add the potatoes and squash and fry, turning every couple of minutes, but not too often—you want to allow each side enough time to build up a bit of a golden crust.

Chop the herbs and add them to the reserved 3 tablespoons of leeks. Add the crème fraîche or yogurt, the juice of half a lemon, and some salt and pepper, and blend well, using a handheld blender.

Keep turning the hash in the pan until it’s all nicely golden. Now there are a couple of ways you can take it. Keep it like this—it’s delicious as it is. Or crumble a little cheese over and allow it to melt in. Then crack the eggs into the pan, pop a lid on top, and allow to cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny.

Serve the hash with the leek-and-herb dressing scattered over. Stir it through before you eat.