Swedish Hash (Pytt i Panna)

Pytt i Panna is a Swedish one-pan dish made of meat, onions and potatoes - traditionally served with beetroot and a fried egg. It’s a classic leftover dish, and a great use for your leftover boiled potatoes. I used to have it a lot - a friend once served it to me on one of my visits to Sweden and I came to appreciate the hearty flavour combination - and the fact that this makes a great hangover meal. My local IKEA used to sell it in big bags in its frozen food section, which made it even more effortless than it already is. When one day my IKEA stopped selling it, I started making it from scratch myself.

Ingredients:
240g potato, peeled and boiled and diced
2 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped medium-fine
200g smoked bacon, diced
2 small pre-boiled beetroot, sliced
2 eggs
knob of butter or dash of olive oil

Instructions:
1. If you’re particularly lazy like I was this evening, you’ll not only use pre-boiled beets, but pre-boiled potatoes. It saves you some time, but it’s not necessary (and of course you can boil the beets yourself too, if you really really want to). If you do boil your own potatoes then cook them in gently boiling water for about 15 minutes and let them cool before using them.

2. In a large skillet, heat some butter or olive oil and add the potatoes. Fry them for 4-5 minutes, then add the bacon. Fry them for another 5 or so minutes until they are starting to brown, then add the onion. Continue for another 3-4 minutes until the onion is soft and everything is lightly browned.

3. In a separate pan, fry an egg sunny side up, keeping the yolk whole. Fry until the white is set but the yolk is still soft.

4. Divide the hash mixture over two plates and top with the fried eggs. Season with salt and pepper, add the beetroot wedges on the side and serve hot.