Towards the end of the week, before I am due another weekly grocery shop, I am trying to find inspiration for a meal for my family, and this requires me to use up what I have left in my fridge and store cupboard. This normally means that it will be a vegetarian meal because I always have some vegetables lefft, and I always ensure that I have some tins of chopped tomatoes in my cupboard (you can never have enough tins of tomatoes!).
Therefore, most weeks now I end up making something which, for the purpose of my blog, I have named a Layered Potato and Vegetable Bake. Not only is this meal frugal and tasty, but it is also very versatile as you can change the vegetable content according to what you have left each week. Obviously, if you had some bacon or ham you could add it to this easily, to make it a meat dish, and sometimes I do just this. However, by most Thursdays/Fridays the ham and bacon have already been eaten up!
Anyway, here is how I made my Layered Potato and Vegetable Bake
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 -2 tsp garlic
- ½ head of cauliflower, broken into small florets
- 2 different coloured peppers (I dont use green though as I find theese too bitter)
- 2 onions, peeled
- 2 courgettes
- 100g mushrooms
- 6-8 medium sized potatoes (I leave the skins on so I used ones with a clean skin)
- 2 x tins of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomatoe puree
- 1 chicken or vegetable stock pot
- 1 tsp mixed Italian herbs
- good grind black pepper
- 50g cheddar cheese
- Pre heat the oven to 200oC / 180oC (fan)
- Apart from the potatoes, cut all of the other veg into chunks and thick slices
- Place into a roasting tin and cover with the oil, garlic and herbs and give a good mix
- Roast for 15 minutes
- Meanwhile , cut the potatoes in half and cook in boiling water for approx 15-20 minutes until just cooked - you do ot want them too soft that they will fall apart. Drain the water and leave to cool
- Once the now roasted veg is cooked, take a large baking dish and lightly grease.
- Pour all of the roasted veg inside and shake gently to spread them around
- Drain the tins of tomatoes so there is not too much juice and pour into a bowl
- Add the tomato puree and stock pot and 25ml of boiling water and mix well, and season with black pepper
- Pour over the vegetables
- Slice the potatoes and arrange over the top of the veggies
- Cover with the grated cheese
- Reduce the oven to 180oC / 160oC (fan) and cook for about 35-40 minutes , until the cheese is all golden on top
This meal comes in at under £4 and it could actually stretch to 8 people if you served it alongside some crusty bread too, making it very good value for money. Not only that but it definately counts towards your 5-a day because it is full of various tasty vegetables!
I was challenged by Aldi to create a frugal and family friendly recipe featuring their organic produce which is available to buy at low everyday prices. For this recipe I managed to use organic onions, potatoes and cauliflower which were very reasonably priced (79p a net, 99p a bag and £1.29 respectively), and did not cost any more than their non organic counterparts in this case.