Chorizo and halloumi hash with flatbread and parmesan

This is a starting point, not a record of exactly what I cooked that night. The method is the one I used. The quantities are a sensible guide for one hungry person with a small frying pan, and I didn't weigh anything on the hill. Change the amounts to suit your pan and your appetite, and swap ingredients for what you like or what's in the cupboard. I do.

• 1Serves
• ~10 minPrep
• ~25 minCook
• 1 panGas stove

Ingredients

A guide, not a shopping list.

• A handful of small potatoes (5 or 6), skin on
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a splash more if the pan runs dry
• ½ small onion
• ½ pepper, any colour
• A 5–6 cm piece of cured chorizo
• About half a block of halloumi
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 flatbread
• A small handful of parmesan, grated or shaved

Method

1. Cut the potatoes into small cubes, about 1–1.5 cm. Small is what lets them cook through in a frying pan without boiling first.
2. Heat the oil over a medium-low flame and add the potatoes. Fry for 10–12 minutes, turning every couple of minutes. If you have a lid or a plate, cover the pan between turns so they steam as well as fry.
3. While they cook, slice the onion and cut the pepper into strips or chunks.
4. Add the onion and cook for 2–3 minutes until it softens, then add the pepper and cook for another 3–4 minutes. The potatoes are done when a knife goes in easily.
5. Tip the potatoes and veg out onto a plate or a sheet of foil. A small pan has no room to fry the chorizo and halloumi well alongside them.
6. Slice the chorizo and fry for 1–2 minutes. It releases a red, smoky oil, and the rest of the dish cooks in that.
7. Cut the halloumi into cubes or thick slices and fry for 2–3 minutes, turning, until golden.
8. Put the potatoes and veg back in, stir everything through the oil and heat for a couple of minutes.
9. Season with the smoked paprika, black pepper and a small pinch of salt. Taste first: chorizo and halloumi are both salty already.
10. Wrap the hash in foil to keep it warm.
11. Put the flatbread in the same pan, unwiped, and toast it for about a minute each side so it soaks up what's left. Scatter the parmesan over it and cover for 30 seconds to melt.
12. Eat the hash on the flatbread or straight from the foil.

Make it your own

• Bigger pan or bigger appetite: scale everything up. In a wider pan you can cook the chorizo and halloumi alongside the veg instead of setting it aside.
• Smaller pan or a pot: cook in two batches, as above. It still works.
• Less gas, less time: use vacuum-packed ready-cooked baby potatoes, or parboil them at home. Frying drops to about 5 minutes.
• Swaps: sweet potato for potato; courgette or mushrooms for pepper; a fried egg on top; drop the chorizo and use more smoked paprika for a vegetarian version.

Carrying it

Use cured chorizo, not cooking chorizo, which is raw and needs keeping cold. Cured chorizo is ready to eat, but check the label: a whole unopened sausage is often sold to store somewhere cool and dry, while sliced packs are usually chilled products. Halloumi and parmesan are sold chilled too, so follow the pack. Carry them unopened in the coolest part of the rucksack and cook them the first evening, and on a warm day add a small cool pack. The flatbread cleans the pan, and the foil goes home in your rubbish bag, as with everything else.

I cooked this on the gas stove and Fire-Maple frying pan from the kit list. Gas suits this one: the potatoes want a low, steady flame for a while, and gas can be turned down in a way my alcohol burner can't.

In the film

The cooking is in the MF509 film from 14:48. The walk, the route and the story of the crash site are on the route page, with a GPX download. For other meals, see all the recipes.

A home cook's recipe, not professional advice. Nothing here is sponsored.