Bubble & Squeak

Bubble & Squeak is a British recipe apparently originating since the 18th century as a ‘peasant dish’ using up leftover roast or mashed vegetables, mainly potatoes, mixed with other vegetables (traditionally cabbage) and frying them into a ‘crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside’ fritter meets hash brown kind of breakfast dish. 

I love dishes like this because the best dishes and recipes come from working with what you’ve got and it’s the perfect way to use up and breathe new life into what can sometimes be boring leftovers. I’ve purposely made the recipe loose, so that you can adapt to your liking and to what you have in the fridge. Any style potatoes can work, any greens and veggies can work, you could even add meat or fish into the patties too.

It can be served on its own or with the usual breakfast suspects like: an egg, bacon, some greens, anything really, including a drizzling of my chilli oil, because it would be rude not to!

Serves 2-3, makes 4 pattiesIngredients 10Cooking Time 30 minutesSkill Level Easy

Ingredients

• Approx. 2 cups (500g) of leftover roast or mashed potatoes, and any other roast veggies. 
• Approx. 2 cups of any greens you have leftover. For this recipe i've used leek and spring onion, but you can add anything from cabbage, kale, spinach, broccoli, peas etc. You just need to finely chop them so that they can be wilted down. 
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 eggs, to be poached
• Small bunch of any herbs you have, I've used thyme, tarragon and chives
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• Any cheese you have in the fridge
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

Method

1. Finely chop your onion, garlic and greens. We are going to sauté and seat them in a pan so they wilt and can be mushed into patties with the potato.
2.  Heat a pan with oil, add your onion and sweat for 2 minutes on medium. Add in your garlic and continue to cook for another 2 minutes until the onions become soft and translucent.
3. Add in any fresh or dry herbs you have to add flavour. Cook for another minute. 
4. Add in your finely chopped greens to the pan. Season with some salt & pepper and a knob of butter. I also chucked in some leftover spring onions that I had in the fridge. Cook this for about 5 minutes or until it has reduced about half the size.
5. Transfer the mixture to a bowl with your leftover potatoes.
6. Add some shredded or roughly chopped cubes of cheese (I've use provolone but any cheese will do) and using a potato masher or your hands, begin mashing all ingredients until you get a smooth mixture that starts to clump together. 
7. Roll into burger sized patties using your hands to shape into balls and squishing down into thick patties.
8. Now we are ready to cook them! The mixture should yield 4 patties. Some bubble & squeak recipes also cook the whole mixture in a pan like a giant pancake, but I chose to roll them into individual patties.
9. Heat a pan with a knob of butter or oil and cook your patties a few minutes on each side until golden and super crispy. Use your spatula to gently push down the patty so there's more surface area to get crispy. You'll head the patty 'bubble & squeak' as you cook it! 
10. Transfer to a plate with a paper towel to drain whilst you cook the rest.
11. Poach 1 egg per patty, by bringing a pot of water with a dash of vinegar to a slow rolling boil. Crack an egg into the a cup of small bowl. Create a whirlpool with a spoon and quickly drop the egg into the centre. Allow to cook for about 4 minutes or until the whites have solidified but the yolk is still runny. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to dry on a paper towel.
12. Place your patty onto a plate and carefully place your poached egg on top. Optionally sprinkle with some chipped chives.
13. Optional, but it would be rude not to top it with a drizzling of chilli oil.