Pumpkin and potato porridge with sage

What you need:

– 500 g pumpkin

– 500 g potatoes

– 300 g fatty smoky bacon

– 5-7 large fresh sage leaves (or 1/4 teaspoon of dried sage)

– 1 large onion

– 3-5 gloves of garlic

– salt & pepper to taste

How to make:

Put the pumkin into the oven to roast it until soft enough to mash with a fork. Boil the potatoes in a lightly salted water. It should take no longer than half an hour. When these look like they are almost done, cube the bacon and in a hot pan, let the fat come out of them and you are left with very crispy bacon cubes. Cut onion and garlic and when the bacon is almost done, add those into the pan with the sage leaves and let them brown. Meanwhile, take the soft potatoes and pumkin and mash them together with a fork, add a little bit of butter and pepper. Then add the pan of bacon and onions, fat and all, mix again until you get a nice creamy porridge. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy! You can add some cheese to make it even better. Pumkin makes it creamier than your usual mashed potatoes and when you add oil and other herbs, you can use this one like hummus.

How much does it cost:

Depending where you get the bacon from, it would be around 2 euros, pumkin and potatoes should not exceed 1 euro. Add everything else and you will still be somewhere below 4 euros with this one.

Absolute classic: pearl groats and potato porridge

This is an all-time classic.

What you need:

– 2 large potatoes

– 1 glass of pearl groats

– water

– salt to taste

– butter cube to taste

How to make:

It doesn’t get any easier than that: peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes, add the groats, add 2-3 litres of water and let it simmer for an hour or two until water has evaporated and everything has turned soft. Add salt and a small cube of butter, mash the remaining potatoes with a fork on your bowl and enjoy!

How much does it cost?

You can’t go over 50 cents with this recipe.

Potato soup with sage

What you need:

– 500 g potatoes

– 10 g butter

– teaspoon of olive oil

– 5 large cloves of garlic

– a large onion or a leek

– 7 large leaves of fresh sage

– a small bit of vegetable stock cube, chili flakes and parsley to taste (optional)

– 1,5 – 2 l of water

How to make:

Peel and cube the potatoes. Finely chop your garlic and onion, heat oil in a large pot and throw them in along with chili flakes (and dried parsley, if using). Wait for a minute or two until the onion turns glassy, throw in the butter and chopped sage leaves. Add the potatoes into the mix, stir for around 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for half an hour. Salt and pepper to taste. If you like, you can puree the soup and serve with either additional butter or a bit of sour cream.

Like it heavier? Leave these french roots of the soup behind and use smoked fatty ham cubes instead of olive oil – just fry them long enough to get them as crispy as you like them and get the fat to come out and then proceed as usual.

What does it cost:

For a bit garlic, butter and oil and electricity and all you won’t get more than 1 euro.