When it’s cold, dark and raining outside, it’s tempting to turn to some sort of comfort food to warm yourself from the inside out.
Sustain yourself through autumn and into winter with these staple dishes every seasoned and beginner home cook should know.
1. Soup
You’ve got to have a few soups up your sleeve. Canned tomato soup is all very well, but autumn calls for spiced lentil soups, rich with coconut, and concoctions made using all the leftover root veg in your fridge. Simmer in stock until cooked through, season and blitz with a stick blender. Just add bread and butter. Done.
Read: The Famous Flu Fighter Soup
2. Crumble
A classic, autumn isn’t autumn unless practically every meal is concluded with a crumble. Preferably blackberry and apple, with a generous glug of Carnation milk, cream or custard.
3. Sausages with lentils
There’s a time and a place for mash, and it’s normally with sausages. But for a truly autumnal dish with a bit of heft, try lentils spiked with root veg, garlic and rosemary instead.
4. Chicken pie
Creamy sauce (with mushrooms, bacon, broccoli, leeks), tender chicken (use leftover roast meat if you’ve got it), and pastry (pastry is basically mandatory in autumn) – a good chicken pie recipe will stand you in good stead forever.
Read: Comfort food faves: Chip sandwiches, stewed fruit and tomato soup
5. Cheesy mushroom tart
Mushroom season is in full swing. You may not want to (or be qualified to) go mushroom hunting, but you can still buy all sorts of varieties in supermarkets and from markets and grocers. A cheesy, rich, thyme-spiked mushroom tart will make the most of them.
6. Apple cake
Apples have their moment in autumn, be it in home pressed cloudy apple juice, or just munched raw. A reliable apple cake though, with hints of caramel and cinnamon, is a thing of pure deliciousness.
Read: Cinnamon Apple Cake
7. Pasta bake
A must. Preferably laced with chilli roasted pumpkin and cauliflower, and topped with more cheese than seems wise or necessary. A green salad on the side should bring a little brightness.
– With PA
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