It's one of the great kitchen pleasures to look at a large simmering pot or bubbling ovenproof dish and think, that's supper sorted: ameal in onepot that's got the lot.
Food such as this rarely takes long to prepare, and any time you do spend peeling, chopping, stirring or layering tends to be untaxing and therapeutic. Then you have nothing but the pleasure of anticipation, as itgently does its thing on the stove or behind the oven door. These dishes are often prepared well ahead of time, so that period of eager waiting may be extended to a day or two, as the dish waits in the fridge for you to slam it back in the oven when you need it.
It's not just a superstition that reheated dishes often taste better. Cooking breaks food down, rupturing membranes, drawing out juices, mingling elements, and that process continues as a dish cools. So a brief "maturing" period is often the final touch that ensures your one-pot winter warmer is a real winner.
There are a few things that help to guarantee success. First, you need astarch element, something to soak up juice and fill the belly. Pasta is an easy choice, though spuds may make for a more tummy-filling treat. And all kinds of grains and pulses do the job just as well. Risotto rice is great, provided there is plenty of liquid in the dish; good old short-grain pudding rice also works a treat, and is often cheaper. Nutty pearl barley or pearled spelt are also excellent ways to add body; and don't forget pulses such as white beans or puy lentils, which give you carbs and protein ina virtuous double-whammy.
Your cooking medium – what will become the sauce, gravy or liquor (even if it's almost all absorbed by the other elements) – is crucial: it's going to deliver flavour to all corners of the pot. If it's a béchamel-style sauce, infuse it with bay at the very least and, ideally, celery and onion, too. And if you're using stock, make it agood one. That doesn't mean you areduty-bound to use homemade broth. By all means make stock from a cube or powder, but taste before you use it (they can be salty).
Once you have the elements of the dish locked down tight, you need to give it time. Even if you're serving up pretty much as soon as it's cooked, give it at least 10 minutes to settle, preferably up to 30. As long as it's inits pot or dish, itwon't go cold. Nothing tastes its best boiling hot, anyway, and flavours are far more discernible when food is in the mid-range between warm and hot-but-not-scalding. Then dive deep asyou like into your kitchen comfort zone.
Baked chicken with tomatoes and rice
This is a take on chicken cacciatore. Serves six.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 chicken, jointed into 6 pieces (or 6bone-in, skin-on chicken portions)
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
125g risotto rice, such as arborio
150ml dry white wine
1 tbsp tomato purée
400g tinned tomatoes, crushed
500ml chicken stock
About 150g black or green olives (optional)
A little fresh thyme, to finish
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Put a large frying pan on amedium-high heat and add the oil. Season the chicken pieces well and, in two batches, brown in the hot pan. Transfer to a large oven dish, skin side up, and when all the chicken is browned, roast it for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, turn the heat right down under the frying pan. If need be, pour off any excess fat (you want only one to two tablespoons of fat left in the pan). Add the onions and sweat gently for 10 minutes, until soft, then add the garlic and oregano, and cook for a few minutes more.
Stir in the rice for a minute or two, then add the wine and increase the heat so it is bubbling. Simmer for acouple of minutes, stirring, until the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the tomato purée, then add the tinned tomatoes and stock, and bring back to a boil. Season to taste.
All this should fill the chicken's initial 20 minutes' cooking. Tip the rice mix into the chicken dish, making sure no grains are left on top of the meat, where they won't cook. Scatter in the olives, if using, and roast for 30 minutes longer, by which time the rice should be swollen and tender. Leave to sit for 10-15 minutes, check the seasoning, scatter with thyme and serve.
Kale and mushroom lasagne
Rich with earthy flavours, this vegetarian lasagne is just as satisfying as any meaty version. Serves six.
About 300g kale or cavolo nero, stalks removed, leaves shredded
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
30g butter
500g mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finelychopped
1 tsp thyme leaves
175g lasagne sheets (ideally fresh)
20g vegetarian 'parmesan', hard goat's cheese or other well-flavoured hard cheese, grated
A little rapeseed or olive oil
For the béchamel sauce
1 litre whole milk
1 bay leaf
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 stem celery, roughly chopped
A few black peppercorns
75g unsalted butter
75g plain flour
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Heat the milk for the sauce with the bay leaf, onion, celery and peppercorns until just below boiling, then set aside to infuse.
Put the kale in a large saucepan and just cover with cold water. Add salt, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for two to three minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.
Heat half the butter in a large, wide frying pan over a medium heat. Add half the mushrooms and some salt and pepper. Increase the heat and fry, stirring often, for five to 10 minutes, until the liquid released by the mushrooms has evaporated and they are starting to caramelise. Stir in half the garlic and half the thyme, cook for a minute, then tip into abowl. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms andset aside.
Gently reheat the infused milk until hot. Heat the butter for the béchamel in a large saucepan. Add the flour and stir to form a smooth roux. Cook gently for a minute or two, remove from the heat, strain in a quarter of the hot milk and beat until smooth. Repeat with the rest of the milk, adding it in two or three lots, until you have a smooth sauce. Return to the heat and cook for afew minutes, stirring often, allowing it to bubble gently until thickened. Stir in the mustard, then season.
Stir half the béchamel into the kale. Spread half the remaining sauce over the base of a 28cm x 22cm oven dish. Add a layer of lasagne, then the kale, another layer of lasagne, then the mushrooms. Finish with a layer of pasta and the remaining béchamel, scatter over the cheese and a trickle of oil, and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. Serve straight away.
Sausage and lentil hotpot with prunes
This easy, hearty dish is full of savoury flavours, gently lifted by therich sweetness of a few prunes. Serves four to six.
About 3 tbsp olive, rapeseed or sunflower oil
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and slicedon the diagonal
2 stems celery, sliced on the diagonal
2 bay leaves (optional)
Sprig of thyme (optional)
8 sausages
500ml chicken stock
150g puy, green or brown lentils, well rinsed
200g pitted prunes
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
Heat the oven to 140C/285F/gas mark 1. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large casserole over a medium-low heat. Add the onions, and let them sweat for 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the carrots and celery, and the bay and thyme, if using. Cover and sweat for 10 or so minutes, stirring from time to time.
Heat a trickle more oil in a frying pan and brown the sausages all over. Add them to the casserole with the veg. Use a little stock to deglaze the frying pan, then pour the pan juices into the casserole. Add the lentils, prunes, remaining stock and some salt and pepper: the liquid should just barely cover everything, so add a splash of water if necessary. Bring up to a simmer, cover and bake for an hour to an hour and a half. Give it a stir halfway through, to ensure the lentils cook evenly. Season to taste and serve; it's delicious with lightly cooked greens.
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