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winter casserole recipes

Slow-cooked and heart-warming. If you'd like more recipes please have a look at our recipe index!

Bohemian Pork and Butterbean Goulash
Apple Cider Chicken Casserole
Slow-Cooked Beef Casserole with Cinnamon, Red Wine and Bay

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Bohemian Pork and Butterbean Goulash

Sweet and smoky, this is a gorgeous one-pot affair. Serves 4-6.

• 6 red peppers
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 250g diced pork
• 400g tin butter beans
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil
• 4 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 generously heaped tablespoons of mild smoked paprika, plus a little extra for serving
• 2 teaspoons of ground caraway seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 750ml chicken, vegetable stock
• 50g crème fraiche
• A small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley and/or coriander, chopped

Preheat oven to 220°C. Before the oven gets hot, place on of your oven racks right at the top and place one just under it. Place a roasting tin on the second shelf.

Once the oven is hot, pop all your peppers on the top rack just above the roasting tin. The tin will collect all the juices, which you can stir into the goulash. Cook for about 30 minutes, turning once, until the peppers have started to get a bit black and blistery. While they roast, you can get a move on the next two steps. When they’re done, pop them in the roasting tin and set aside to cool. Then, turn oven down to 180C and pop the top rack down at the bottom of the oven, leaving you room for the goulash pot later on.

Find a good, deep, ovenproof pot with a lid and heat it on the hob. Season the pork generously with salt and pepper and rub in the garlic. Pour enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot and add the pork. Cook for about 10 minutes on a medium-low heat, to render out the fat and give it a caramely edge.

While the pork sizzles, slip the skins off the peppers (keep them in the pan to accumulate more juices), pop the stems off and scoop out the seeds and discard. Pull each pepper into 1-2cm thick ribbons. When the pork has cooked, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon, set on a plate and put it to one side.

Gloss the pot with a few more glugs of oil (about 2 tbsp), add the onions and stir around to mop up any brown bits left from the pork. Gently fry the onions for 15 minutes.

Fold in the chilli, paprika, caraway seeds, marjoram and/or oregano. Add 2 tbsp water and give it a good stir. Cook for a minute. Then, add the peppers and all the juices you collected from them, the pork and the tinned tomatoes.

Give everything a good mix, then pour in enough water to just cover the meat. Add the vinegar. Bring to the boil, put the lid on top. Then, place in the 180C oven for 3 hours.

Serve with rice or buttered taliatelle noodles. Top with a dollop of crème friache and heap of roughly chopped parsley or coriander.

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Apple Cider Chicken Casserole

Serves 4-6.

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 boneless chicken thighs
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 4 small onions, peeled and quartered
• 1/2 celeriac, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
• 500ml cider
• 250ml chicken or vegetable stock, warmed
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 apples, scrubbed, cored and cut into 8
• 1 fennel, quartered, then thinly sliced and roughly chopped
• 8 fresh thyme sprigs

Preheat oven to 180C.

Heat the oil in a large, ovenproof pan or casserole dish. Roll the chicken thighs in the flour, then brown in the pan for 8-10 minutes, turning regularly.

Stir in the onions, celeriac, cider, stock, honey, a pinch of sea salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Bring to the boil, then cover and pop into the oven to slowly cook for 1 1/2 hours. At this stage, add the apples, fennel and thyme. Pop back into the oven for 30 minutes. Serve with lightly buttered cabbage and boiled new potatoes, or with a loaf of walnut or soda bread.

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Slow-Cooked Beef Casserole with Cinnamon, Red Wine and Bay

Rich, velvety and soul-warming. Serves 2.

• 500g rump or braising steak, in 3-4cm pieces
• 300ml red wine, a silky Burgundy works well
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 bay leaves
• 70g smoky bacon, snipped into lardons
• 30g salted butter
• 6 small shallots, peeled but left whole
• 3 large carrots (or 6 medium-to-small ones), cut into 4cm long batons
• 8 prunes
• 300ml beef stock
• 1 tbsp plain flour

Put the meat, wine, garlic, cinnamon and bay in a large bowl. Cover and leave in the fridge for 3-4 hours or, preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 150C/Gas mark 2. Drain the meat, reserving the marinade, cinnamon and bay. Dry the meat on paper towels. Fry the pancetta in a casserole over medium heat until it starts to brown. Add half the butter, the shallots, carrots, prunes and reserved bay and cinnamon. Sauté until the carrots and shallots start to brown.

In a separate pan, melt the remaining butter, brown the meat (in batches if necessary) and add to the casserole. Add the stock. Return to the boil, cover and put in the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until the meat is tender and the sauce thickened. Remove from the oven and stand, covered, for 20 minutes. Serve with hot crusty bread, buttery mash and/or a watercress salad. Alternatively, cool, refrigerate for up to 2 days and reheat.

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