Potato & Pepper Bake

Cooking time approx: 1 hour 10 minutes
Oven temperature 220c/Gas 7
Serves approx: 4

Ingredients

• 700g Potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 Medium Onions, peeled, thinly sliced and roughly chopped
• 1 Green pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 1 Red pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 2 Cloves of Garlic, peeled, sliced and finely chopped
• 170g Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated
• 400ml Hot Vegetable Stock
• 1 tablespoon Marmite
• Half a teaspoon of mixed dried Herbs
• Half a teaspoon of dried Basil
• Freshly ground Black Pepper

Method

• Pre-heat your oven
• Mix the Marmite, garlic and a little black pepper into the hot vegetable stock. Stir well.
• Stir the mixed herbs and the basil into the grated cheese and set aside
• Spread a layer of potatoes onto the bottom of a 2 litre ovenproof dish (you can use a gratin dish if you prefer).
• Layer some of the onions and peppers, then another layer of potato. Repeat the layering ending with a layer of potato.
• Pour over the stock mixture
• Season with a little Black Pepper
• Cover with foil
• Bake for 30 minutes
• Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and slightly browned on top.
• Sprinkle the cheese and herb mixture over the top and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese if golden and bubbling.

This Potato and Pepper Bake goes well with chicken or gammon, but you can have any meat or non-meat alternative that you prefer.

Tips

• Waxy potatoes work best with this dish
• If you’re not keen on garlic you can leave it out
• You can use any dried herbs of your choice instead of the mixed herbs and basil
• You can swap the Marmite for Bovril if you prefer
• If you want to reduce the fat content you can use a low fat cheddar cheese instead
• You can add thinly sliced mushrooms to the vegetable layers
• You can use any colour of peppers you prefer

This Potato and Pepper Bake can also be made in individual portions in foil dishes. These are cheap and widely available. I prefer to use the oblong ones such as these. Share the vegetable layers between your foil dishes and share the stock mixture and herby cheese topping equally between them. You will probably find that the cooking time is reduced after the initial 30 minutes. So once you have removed the foil check your Potato and Pepper bakes every 10 minutes or so until the potatoes are soft and the potatoes on top are lightly browned before adding the herby cheese topping.

You can freeze these portions for future use. Defrost before reheating and if you’re reheating in the microwave remove the Potato and Pepper bake from the foil tray and place it on a microwaveable dinner plate.