Stovies — Scottish Potato Comfort

Ingredients

• 2½ lb potatoes, thick-sliced
• 2 onions, sliced
• 8 oz Sausage, chopped
• 3 tbsp butter or dripping
• 1 cup stock
• Salt and lots of black pepper
• Oatcakes or bread, and pickled beetroot, to serve

Method

1. Soften the onions in the fat until golden, 8 minutes — unhurried; stovies reward the slow hand.
2. Brown the Sausage with the onions briefly.
3. Add the potatoes in layers with salt and pepper between, pour in the stock, cover TIGHT, and cook on low 30 minutes, shaking (not stirring) occasionally.
4. The finish line: potatoes collapsing at the edges, sticky at the pot's bottom, somewhere between stew and mash. Scots argue about the exact texture; all versions are right at their own table.
5. Serve with oatcakes and pickled beetroot. Monday food, invented to honor Sunday's roast — thrift that tastes like wealth.