A few days before I made this recipe, I had a little rant via Facebook Livestream on the vagaries of food labelling and packaging.  It was a very successful broadcast which garnered a lot of interaction and reach – which was great because it’s a topic I feel very strongly about and raising awareness is crucial. 

I had chosen to “pick on” smoked salmon, greek yoghurt and butter.  I had purchased quite a bit of these in order to be able to demonstrate my points.  Ergo, I had a lot left over and because I am anti-food waste, I needed to find a way to make use of it.

A quick sconce through the fridge and cupboards to see what I had to hand, and voila, off I was making this super tasty dish. There’s not too much prep in this – mainly the potatoes and making the white sauce, but really these things are not taxing and can be completed in the time it takes for your oven to come up to heat so it’s efficient with your time too!

The trick is to not get to over zealous with the amount of smoked salmon here.  Stick to the amount suggested below and you will achieve the perfect balance of flavour.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium sized white potatoes (waxy is best)
• 1-2 sweet potatoes (depending on size, but about the same quantity of white potato when peeled and sliced)
• 150g of smoked salmon
• 2 leeks, trimmed, peeled and sliced into 1cm rounds
• Handful of fresh thyme
• 150g greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 100ml semi skimmed milk
• dash lemon juice
• sea salt and ground black pepper
• Cheese for grating (parmesan)
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Knob of butter
• Serve with steamed asparagus and sea samphire

Method:

• Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
• Peel all the potatoes and slice finely – about 1cm in width, using a knife or a mandolin.
• In a saucepan over a low heat, add the flour and about 50ml of the milk.  Stir with a small whisk to work out the lumps.  As this thickens under the heat, lumps may reform.  Add a little more milk and repeat until you have a consistency that coats the back of a spatula.
• Add in the greek yoghurt, whisk through to combine then take off the heat and set aside.  Season a little with salt and plenty of black pepper.
• In an oven proof dish, drizzle in the smallest amount of oil and using a basting brush coat the bottom and sides with the oil.
• Then begin layering: first the potato.  Lay a column of white potato, followed by a column of sweet potato and repeat so you have four columns on the bottom layer, sprinkle half of the leeks on top.  Season with a little salt, pepper and some fresh thyme.  Add half the smoked salmon, tearing it into strips and dotting it around on top of the potatoes.  Add about a third of the white sauce.
• Repeat this layer again, finishing with a final layer of potato, seasoning and thyme and the remaining white sauce.
• Grate over the top with some parmesan cheese and cover with some foil or grease proof, and place into the oven for about 30 mins.
• After 30 mins, uncover and cook for a further 10-15 mins until the potatoes are soft when you put a knife in, and the top had browned.
• While the bake is browning off, gently steam some asparagus and sea samphire for about 5 mins.  Toss with a small knob of butter, a dash of lemon juice and a light seasoning just with black pepper.
• Serve up the bake to the table, bubbling and hot along the sweet and salty asparagus and samphire.

Enjoy….