Our top 3 Winter Warmer Recipes are a Must this Season

Bangers & Mash (with Onion Gravy) 

Super easy and oh-so tasty! Bangers and Mash are an ultimate winter warmer favourite that can’t go unmissed. Not only is it quick to make, but an easy classic you can swap out for veggie sausages and non-dairy milk and have the same dish for vegetarians and vegans.  

Ingredients: 

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil 
• 8 pork sausages (the best quality you can find, or veggie) 
• small knob of butter 
• 3 small onions, finely sliced 

• 1 thyme sprig 
• 1 bay leaf 
• pinch of sugar 
• 1 heaped tsp plain flour 
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar 

• 1 glass red wine 
• 1 tsp soy sauce 
• 400ml beef or vegetable stock made with 1 stock shot or cube 

For the mash 

• 1 kg King Edward potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks 

• 100ml whole milk or 50ml milk and 50ml cream (use vegan options if preferred) 
• 50g cold butter, diced 
• grating of nutmeg 

 

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Gently fry your sausages in oil over a medium-high heat for 8-10 mins, turning them until nicely browned. Transfer them to a separate dish, and add the butter into the same pan until sizzling. Add your finely sliced onions and stir with the thyme sprig, bay leaf and pinch of sugar until softened. Place the browned sausages on top, making sure to add all the juices from the dish, and roast everything for 20 minutes in the oven.  

While this getting juicy in the oven, make your creamy mash. Place your potatoes into a pan of cold, salted water and bring to boil. Turn down the heat and let them simmer for 10-12 minutes, so they are cooked all the way through. Whilst the potatoes sit for a minute, simmer the milk in a pan and pass the potatoes through a ricer into the hot milk, mashing thoroughly. Once the lumps have gone, beat with a wooden spoon over low heat adding in the butter bit by bit, creating a super smooth texture to keep warm.  

With the sausages now cooked, place them onto a separate dish again and back into the oven to keep warm. Put the roasted onions on the heated stove to caramelise and add in the flour slowly cooking for another minute. Throw in the vinegar, red wine, and soy sauce and bubble it right down to a thick paste. Finally pour in your stock and boil for 3-4 minutes until you have a rich gravy. Slap everything on your plate and hey presto, bangers and mash complete!  

 

Honeyed Winter Salad 

If you fancy something warming but don’t want something too heavy, maybe you’re looking for a light winter lunch, this honeyed roasted vegetable salad is the perfect combination. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 butternut squash, cut into thin wedges 
• 2 red onions, halved and cut into wedges 
• 4 parsnips, cut into wedges 

• 3 tbsp olive oil (try garlic or basil infused) 
• 1-2 tbsp clear honey 
• 1 small ciabatta, roughly torn into pieces (tomato and olive ciabatta works well) 
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds, optional 
• 225g bag leaf spinach 

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar 
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard 

What to do: 

Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Slice all your vegetables into thin wedges and add to a pan and drizzle with oil and season with salt, pepper and your desired herbs. Roast these for 20 minutes, turning them over a few times until softened, then you can add your honey over the top. Sprinkle the torn ciabatta and sunflower seeds generously on top of the honey-ed veg and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until toasted.  

Once cooked, take your vegetables and ciabatta out of the oven and find a large bowl to put them into with the addition of the spinach. On the side, whisk the vinegar, mustard and left-over oil from the roasting tin and pour into the bowl so the spinach should wilt slightly. Serve or EAT immediately! 

Cauliflower Cheese 

Often a popular side dish to accompany a Sunday roast, this warming, thick cauliflower cheese recipe is one we recommend having as the star of the plate, with a jacket potato and some greens (if you’re being healthy!) 

Ingredients: 

• 1 large cauliflower (leaves cut off), broken into pieces 
• 500ml milk 
• 4 tbsp flour 
• 50g butter 
• 100g strong cheddar, grated 

• 2-3 tbsp breadcrumbs, if you have them 

What to do: 

First preheat the oven to 220C/200C/gas 7.  

Depending on what shape dish you have that can go in the oven, you can either break your cauliflower into small chunks, or keep it as a whole and place in a pan of boiling water cooking for 5 minutes. Stick a knife through it or test a piece if you’ve gone for chunks and it should be soft. Be careful not to overcook the cauliflower as it will continue to cook again in the oven later, and this could make your cheesey sauce too runny! 

Once cooked, drain the cauliflower into an ovenproof dish, the one you selected earlier, and leave for a few minutes while you prepare the sauce. Add 500ml of milk, 4 tablespoons of flour and 50g of butter (again you can use vegan produce here if you prefer) to a saucepan and heat. Whisk everything together rapidly as the butter melts and the mixture comes to a boil. The flour should dissolve (with no lumps if you’ve whisked it properly) and the sauce should thicken. Whisk for 2 minutes as it bubbles.  

Take the pan off the heat and stir in most (but not all) of the 100g of grated cheese and start to pour over the cauliflower. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and 2-3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs over the top to create a crispy topping and place the dish in the oven baking for a further 20 minutes.  

Remove from the oven when it looks beautifully golden brown and serve how you wish! 

All that is left is... Bon Appetite...