Comté, smoked haddock and chorizo gratin

Serves: 4

Smoked haddock and chorizo are already a match made in heaven… but they are rendered utterly celestial with the addition of melted Comté! If you’re making this for just two people, you can freeze or refrigerate two of the portions for a homemade “ready” meal on another day.

Ingredients

• 600g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and sliced into 3mm thick discs
• 100g chorizo (spicy or sweet), skin removed, chopped into 1cm cubes
• 10g unsalted butter
• 200g banana shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 slightly rounded teaspoons plain flour
• 150ml dry white wine
• 240g skinless smoked haddock, cut into 3cm pieces
• 25g flat leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
• 300ml double cream
• 150g young Comté (4 to 8 -month), coarsely grated

Directions

1Butter the insides of four individual pie dishes.

2Put the sliced potatoes in a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until becoming tender, then drain and set aside in a colander. Heat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan).

3Meanwhile, fry the chorizo in a large frying pan for 2 minutes on a medium-high heat until crisp on the outside, but be careful not to let it burn. Remove and set aside onto a plate lined with kitchen roll. Add the butter and shallots to the pan; fry over a medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes until starting to soften and turn golden brown. Add the garlic and flour, cook for 1 minute, stirring, then pour in the wine and bubble for 2 minutes. Turn the heat off.

4Layer half the cooked potatoes over the bottom of the baking dishes, then scatter over the shallot mixture, chorizo, haddock, chopped parsley, half the Comté and half the cream. Top with the remaining potatoes (overlapping slightly to create a circular pattern). Pour over the remaining cream.*

5Sit the dishes on a baking tray and bake in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes, then top each dish with the remaining Comté. Turn the oven to the highest grill setting and return the gratin to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes (how long it takes depends on the strength of your grill) until the top is golden and bubbling – watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn. Leave the gratin to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

*You can refrigerate or freeze them at this stage. If frozen, leave to thaw completely in the fridge for 24 or even 48 hours. Remove from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking so that it cooks thoroughly and evenly.