In its Eat Well for Less series, OFM asked 10 chefs to make a meal for four whose ingredients cost £5 or less – barring items that would already be in the household cupboard, such as olive oil, soy sauce, dried herbs and spices.
Mackerel is a beautiful oily fish that is abundant in the UK and as delicious fresh as it is smoked. It is incredibly cheap compared to many fish because it's so readily available and in my opinion a fish that we should eat more of. The meaty but soft, juicy texture goes well with baking potatoes and the strong flavour makes it a good match for a robust herb like thyme, a herb which transforms the dish. Fish is a wild food and hard to come by cheaply (the fishermen face all weathers and conditions to land their catch for us), but cook seafood with pasta, in risottos or baked with potatoes like this and you can make it go much further.
Serves 4
onions 700g, peeled and finely sliced
olive oil 50ml
potatoes 1 kg, peeled and finely sliced
fresh thyme
mackerel 500g, filleted and pinboned
Knorr chicken stock pot 1
TOTAL £4.74 from Co-op
Cook the onions slowly in a pan with the olive oil for around 30 minutes until golden and caramelised. Place a layer of sliced potatoes on the bottom of a roasting dish, then lay half of the onions on top, season with salt and pepper, add some fresh thyme, then lay the mackerel on top, then the remaining onions, then the remaining thyme and finish with a final layer of potatoes.
Mix the stock pot with enough water to half fill the dish, then bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 180C/gas mark 4.
