Being budget conscious and enjoying good food needn’t be mutually exclusive, as we found out during another trip to the Balham Farmers’ Market (held by the London Farmers’ Market, every Saturday, 9am-2pm). Much as they are delicious and tempting, food markets often have reputations for being on the expensive side, left for treats and showing off at dinner parties. We decided to see how far our five pound note for dinner time would go. We wanted rich, comfort food to satisfy us during the cold snap.

Our first craving? Sausages. Forever a winter staple, they largely remind us of fireworks night, served with jacket potatoes and baked beans. We stopped by Priors Hall Farm for our meat, where they displayed all manner of pork. We went for the original classic pork sausages, £2.30 for a pack of 4. We picked up red potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli from Ivy’s Farm Shop for £1 (4 potatoes, more than enough) and £1.50 respectively.

Cooking took about thirty minutes in total. The sausages weren’t pierced and actually plumped out in the oven. We added about 1/2 tbsp of butter and a splash of milk to the potatoes to help it form a creamy mash. The result? Dinner for two, farmers’ market style, for under a fiver. Lush.