Tatin
This reminds me of an upside-down quiche without the egg, which in turn, is basically an omelette in pastry (in this case, without the egg). Which means you can make an omelette without breaking an egg.
Therefore this should be remarkably easy to cook, however, that doesn't take into account my capacity for complicating it!
As the recipe unfolds, I will tell you where you can make the short-cuts, or more to the point, eliminate my long-cuts.
Give it a go, it really can be easy!
Okay, I admit that I ignored one of my own basic rules, and over-complicated this.
That said, it was really tasty.
Tatin, is an upside-down pie, usually made with vegetables, but that doesn't mean you can't add other things, so I did!
You however can just remove those things and make this more simple, and it will still be a remarkably tasty dish.
INGREDIENTS
1 medium/large potato,
2 onions,
1 tomato,
5/6 cherry tomatoes,
75gr grated cheese of your choice,
breadcrumbs,
mini sausages, chorizos and black-puddings,
1 leek,
salt, olive oil, oregano, and turmeric.
a sheet of shortcrust pastry.
STEPS
1)Peel and cut the potato into small chunks, then boil in salted water for about 5 minutes.
If you cut the potato into thin slices you don't need to boil them!
2)Peel and cut the onions in halves, then dice one of the halves.
You do not need to bother dicing a half onion if you don't want to. I just like bits of onion in the mix.
3)Clean and slice the tomatoes in half, then place them face-down on a sheet of kitchen roll. It is important that the kitchen roll absorbs part of the juices the tomatoes release, otherwise the end product will be diluted.
You could always replace the cherry tomatoes with another normal tomato.
4)Clean and slice the leek into smallish pieces.
5)Grate the turmeric.
You don't even need the turmeric! I just like the yellow colouring it adds to the dish.
6)Lightly fry the onion, leek and turmeric in a large covered frying-pan*, for about 3 minutes, then add the sausage etc., and fry for a further 4-5 minutes, until the onions are soft.
*If you are slicing the potatoes, you should add them to the pan along with the onions, and leek.
7)Sprinkle the grated cheese and the oregano over the base of a lined baking dish.
8)Remove the onions and the leek from the pan and arrange them on the baking dish, with the tomatoes (all face-down).
9)Add the drained potatoes to the pan with the sausages etc, and continue to fry until the potatoes are lightly browned.
If you sliced the potatoes you can ignore this step!
10)Remove the pan from the flame, and add the potatoes and sausages etc. to the baking dish.
11)Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top. This will protect the pastry from the moisture of the mix.
12)Place the pastry over the top, and tuck it in around the sides of the mixture, pressing firmly against the sides of the dish.
13)Place the baking dish in the centre of a preheated oven at 180°c, until browned (15-20min).
14)Remove the dish from the oven, turn it over and slide the dish off the pastry, gently remove the lining paper, and there you have it TATIN!
