Pasta and potato hotchpotch
In these difficult times of “economic instability that noooooooooooo one could have predicted” which gave a great excuse for higher prices of everything to this land, one is being compelled to calculate the expenses even more than ever. I’m having some sort of mixed feelings while hearing that the prices of food in Spain, for example, have been lowering for the past few months already – as for here, I could say the less I buy the more I spend.
It wasn’t so long ago when I used to buy organic lemons for 1 euro per kilo; now they cost 2.5 euro per kilo. No matter how much I try to purchase the seasonal vegetables and fruit only, and as locally produced as possible, the bill is still high and the effort seems in vane.
I don’t remember buying fish for the last time. I do long for it, though. But 2 salmon fillets for 10 euros sounds a bit exaggerate, doesn’t it? And regarding the meat prices, well not much better there, either. I really like my friendly butcher who always gives me the best cuts of local origins, however 25 eur for a kilo of veal just strikes me. Luckily for us, we’re more into chicken and turkey 
.
And while I’m doing my best to support Slovene products, I’ve found myself in a dilemma once I learned that not all the milk they sell as “Slovene” is actually of Slovene origins anymore, but rather imported from some other European country, while our milk is being sold over to our neighbors.
OK. So, quite suitable with the topic, here I have an example of a very satiated, low cost meal, apparently originating from a town by the Sava river (Zagorje ob Savi), an area once known for its coal mines. This energetic dish used to provide the miners with enough energy to spend several hours digging underground, and also, it’s a kind of flexible dish, allowing whatever addition you might have handy. It has a curious name – grenadirmarš – and basically it calls for 2 main ingredients: boiled potatoes and cooked pasta. I adapted it to my taste and added onion and leftover turkey. You may, of course, use whatever other ingredient. You really can’t go wrong! And in case the name didn’t scare you, you might give it a go! 
PASTA AND POTATO HOTCHPOTCH
serves 2
An example of a basic recipe:
6 middle-sized potatoes, cleaned
150g of desired pasta (I used spinach tagliatelli)
generous amount of olive oil
1 (red) onion
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
Plus:
100g turkey breast, cubed
1tsp (Dijon) mustard
a few drops lemon juice
1 tsp chopped thyme
a dash of sweet paprika
salt and pepper
1. Cover the turkey cubes with the mustard marinade and place in the fridge for a little while.
2. In the meantime, boil the potatoes with their skins on until tender. Cool a bit and peel. Slice them thinly and set aside.
3. In a pot that you use for cooking pasta, bring to boil a sufficient quantity of water, add salt and then pasta. Cook according to the instructions. Drain well and set aside.
4. Heat some olive oil in a (big) frying pan and stir-fry the marinated meat. Take it out of the pan and keep warm.
5. Add some more olive oil to the same pan (the potatoes soak a lot of it, yup) and sauté the chopped onion and garlic until translucent (not brown), then add the sliced potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Stir a few times, letting the potato take on a little color.
6. Finish by adding the pasta and turkey, stirring to combine all the ingredients. If you have some parsley or chives handy, don’t hesitate to decorate the dish with it.
7. Best served with a bowl of salad on a side. Good appetite!
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so that’s life economy-wise – things are not any better here either. we drink greek milk, but it’s exepnsive compared to other countries – life is very costly these days