Name: Wild mushroom hash with baked eggs and cobnuts
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 800g Maris Piper potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes; 40g Kentish cobnuts or blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped; 3 tbsp olive oil; 400g mixed wild mushrooms (such as ceps, chanterelles and oyster mushrooms), cleaned and torn into large pieces; 25g unsalted butter; 2 banana shallots, finely sliced; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked; 100g kale, tough stalks removed, leaves shredded; ½ lemon, juiced; 4 large eggs; Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped; A large ovenproof frying pan, about 28cm

Wild mushroom hash with baked eggs and cobnuts

This wild mushroom hash recipe crisps potatoes and autumn fungi in one pan, then bakes eggs on top for a slow late September weekend breakfast for four.

Gluten-freeVegetarian

Serves4

Hands-on35 min

Oven10 min

DifficultyEasy

Some mornings call for a kitchen that smells of butter and thyme before anyone is properly awake. Wild mushrooms, the meatiest of the season’s vegetables, go into a hot pan with crisp potatoes and kale, and the eggs set in the oven while the coffee brews.

Why it’s so good: Parboiling the potatoes gives them craggy, crunchy edges, and frying the mushrooms hard before anything else joins them keeps them golden rather than soggy. Toasted cobnuts bring crunch against the soft, runny yolks.

Make it easy: Boil and cool the potatoes the night before and the morning’s work drops to about 25 minutes.

Method

Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5-6 minutes until just tender at the edges but still firm in the middle. Drain well and leave to steam dry in the colander for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the cobnuts in the dry ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan, until golden and fragrant. Tip into a bowl and set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in the same pan over a medium-high heat. Add the potatoes in a single layer and fry for 12-15 minutes, turning every few minutes, until golden and crisp on most sides. Season with salt and tip onto a plate.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and turn the heat up to high. Add the mushrooms in a single layer and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring only once or twice, until golden and any liquid has cooked away (see tips).

Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, shallots, garlic and thyme. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until the shallots are soft. Add the kale with a splash of water and cook for 2 minutes until wilted.

Return the potatoes to the pan, add the lemon juice and toss everything together. Taste and season with salt and black pepper.

Make 4 hollows in the hash and crack an egg into each. Season the eggs and bake for 8-10 minutes until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny.

Scatter over the toasted cobnuts and parsley and serve straight from the pan.

Per serving (Serves 4)

Calories

490kcals

Fat

28g (7g saturated)

Protein

17g

Carbohydrates

39g (4g sugars)

Fibre

Salt

0.9g

Quick wins, tips & make ahead

The mushrooms need space and high heat to brown, so fry them in two batches if the pan looks crowded. Only use foraged mushrooms that have been identified with certainty; bought wild mushrooms, or a mix of chestnut and oyster mushrooms, work just as well.

The yolks are served runny. For anyone who needs to avoid lightly cooked eggs, bake for 3-4 minutes longer until the yolks are firm.

The potatoes can be boiled, cooled and chilled in a covered container up to a day ahead. Serve the hash as soon as it comes out of the oven; it is not suitable for freezing.