We managed to cook rather too much potato at the weekend, leaving me with 200g of mash in the fridge. I’d already made soup, so that wasn’t my preferred option (though mashed potato is an excellent way of thickening up a soup or stew).
Inspiration struck in the local Lidl, where I spotted a 200g tin of herring fillet in a mozzarella & tomato sauce for 79p. At least, I assume that’s what it was, as the ingredients were all in German, as was the front of the tin.
Fishcakes!
I poured the contents of the tin (sauce and all) into a large bowl and mashed it up with a fork, added the 200g of mashed potato, along with breadcrumbs from the heel of a loaf of bread, and mixed it together well. I formed it into patties, dusted them with flour, and fried two for 5-ish minutes a side.
Next time, I’ll add another heel’s worth of crumbs, as the cakes were a bit on the soft-and-sloppy side, but served with the last of the sweet chilli sauce from the back of the cupboard, they were delicious. A bit of salad would have been nice too, but I didn’t have time to make coleslaw so we did without.
The herring comes with all sorts of different sauces, so I can see trying them all out for interestingly-flavoured fishcakes.
Recipe: Fishcakes (feeds 4 @ 31p each)
Ingredients:
1 tin Lidl herring in tomato & mozzarella sauce [79p]
200g potatoes, peeled, cooked & mashed (or equivalent of instant mash) [20p]
2 heels of bread, grated/whizzed to form crumbs [free, would have been thrown out]
2 TBS flour for dusting [5p]
oil for frying [4p]
4 slices bread-and-butter to eat alongside [16p or a little more – depending on your choice of bread and spread]
1 TBS sweet chilli sauce (optional) to serve
Method:
- mash the fish into the sauce until well blended.
- add the mashed potato and mix well
- add the breadcrumbs and mix well
- using oiled hands, shape the mixture into 4 large or 8 small patties and place on a floured plate or board
- fry on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes a side until heated through and crispy on the outside
- serve with sweet chilli or your preferred sauce, and bread or a salad (or both)
DrLJN 