Bacon and Leak Hash with Eggs and Beans
Did someone say brunch? Sorry it’s been a while since my last post, even on holiday things can be a little crazy. There’s a saying at Oxford that holidays (or ‘vacations’) are not times to stop working and relax but rather times when you just ‘vacate’ Oxford and go and work somewhere else. So much for rest and recuperation eh! At least my degree is basically what I do for fun anyway, so I get to spend my days drawing, cooking and planning various drama projects I’ve got lined up for next term.
So, back to brunch. When you’ve not got a lot of time on your hands what’s better than to combine two meals into one and have a hippy, hearty, filling bowl of comforting deliciousness? Since coming home I’ve basically stopped having breakfasts at all and I really miss starting the day with a hot plate of fried up morsels, so the other I decided to get off my arse and actually make myself a cooked breakfast. This bacon and leek hash might seem like a bit of a paph – especially when you can just fry up some bacon and have it with potato smiley faces from the freezer (and why not – they’re so good!) – but trust me, if you want a fancied-up snazzy brunch try adding it to your classic eggs and beans and you won’t regret it!
Recipe
Serves 2
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 300g Potatoes (about 2 medium)
- 1 Leek, trimmed, washed and sliced
- 3 Rasher of bacon
- A sprinkling of Paprika
- 100g Cheddar cheese, grated
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Large tin of baked beans to serve (optional)
Method
- Wash and chop the potatoes into small chunks. Then bring a pan of water to the boil and boil the potatoes for around 5 minutes until just cooked through. Drain and leave to steam-dry.
- Take a large frying pan and put it over a medium heat. Add the bacon rashers (as many as will cover the base of the pan at any one time) and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until crispy and golden brown. Transfer the cooked bacon to a plate and repeat with the rest of the bacon until all the rashers are done. Leave until needed.
- Wash the leek and then cut the ends off it (top and tail). Half lengthways and then finely slice. Add the leek to the pan the bacon was cooked in and fry for 5-10 minutes until soft and starting to caramelise.
- Cut the bacon up with a pair of scissors to make small pieces and then add it to the leeks. Add the drained potato and paprika and mix together.
- Transfer the hash mixture to a small roasting tin and then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. If using cheese sprinkle a little of it over the top of the hash 5 minutes before coming out of the oven.
- Meanwhile prep the eggs. Spray a little oil into the pan you cooked the bacon in to add a little more grease. Then crack the eggs into the pan and leave to fry until the whites are opaque. Using a fish slice transfer them to a couple of plates.
- Whilst the eggs are cooking heat the beans in a pan or in a microwave until piping hot. Serve with the eggs and the hash!
Thanks for reading!
Emma x