Taco Potato Gratin (or whatever you may want to call it)

This is a dish that developed out of my love for tacos and potato gratin. It’s a completely something out of my own brain, hence the non-existent word for it! I’ve trawled the web to find anything similar and haven’t found anything – yet! It’s so easy to make + not that calorific either (unless you count the cheese of course….)

Oh, and it’s a real ‘cheat’ dish a la Delia…

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 500g peeled potatoes (I used Desiree variety, but any floury or all-purpose potato would do)
• 400g mince meat
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 2 bags of Old El Paso ready-made Salsa (comes with a taco kit) or any other salsa
• 1 bag of taco spice mix (Old El Paso, but any other will do)
• Grated cheese

Method:

1. Slice potatoes finely (use a mandolin if you have one – if not, it’s worth investing in one). Put them in an oven dish with some water and heat in the microwave for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and almost cooked through.
2. Meanwhile, fry the meat in a frying pan with some oil until all browned.
3. Mix the tomato and one bag of the salsa with the taco mix in a bowl. Pour it in with the meat and mix it all together.
4. Remove the cooked potatoes from the oven dish temporarily to another plate and start layering potatoes with the meat & tomato mix into the oven dish until it is almost full.
5. Finish off with spreading the second bag of salsa over the top of the dish and cover all with a good amount of grated cheese. This can all be done in advance and re-heated in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the mixture bubbles and the cheese is nice and browned. If food is still warm, it will only need to brown up the cheese (15-20 minutes).

Let it cool for a while and serve with some crispy salad and, why not, a dollop of sour cream and guacamole on the side. It’s pretty much like having a taco – only with potatoes!

Options:

• Add sliced aubergine in with the potatoes for a bit of Greek/Mex moussaka variety. Aubergines need to be pre-cooked, though. Nothing worse than chewy, bitter aubergines!
• Add chilli for a bit of spice
• Add beans to the meat mix – or replace the mince with pinto or kidney beans for a veggie option