Recipes to kick-start your Autumn cooking
Okay, so we might be moving away from salads, cocktails and picnics in the park - but it’s not all bad; we get to move indoors and get cosy - and that means getting back to our ovens and renewing our love for cooking hot, heart-warming food! We’re talking soups, curries, risottos and so much more! Here are some of our favourite seasonal recipes to comfort you as the nights draw in.
Pumpkin soup
This is an Autumnal classic - everyone needs to have a good pumpkin soup recipe up their sleeve. That’s why we’re sharing with you one of our favourites by Annie Rigg - a wonderfully simple recipe which tastes delicious.
Ingredients:
Onions, carrots, garlic, bay leafs, unsalted butter, olive oil, pumpkin, vegetable stock, double cream, pumpkin seeds, Fleur de Sel & Black Kampot Pepper.
And depending on your flavour preferences, we like to spruce it up by adding a sprinkle of these spices: Royal Cinnamon, Buffalo Ginger and Wild Mountain Cumin.
Top Tips from Annie Rig:
Pumpkins vary considerably in their flavour and sweetness. A large pumpkin will almost always have more water and less flavour than a small pumpkin.
Root vegetable curry
We love making Indian-spiced curries and in Autumn that means using seasonal veggies like carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, butternut squash, beetroot, pumpkin - the beauty of curries is you can literally throw any veggies in there that you fancy!
Ingredients:
Your veggies of choice, onions, garlic, fresh ginger, coconut milk, tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, vegetable oil, red chillies (the amount depends on your spices level). And for the seasoning we like to add New Harvest Turmeric, Garam Masala (a warming spice mix - see full list of spices here) and Fleur de sel.
Top tips for seasoning:
Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to saucepan over medium heat
Once hot, add cumin seeds and fry for a minute until just turning brown.
Then add chopped onion and fry until soft. Add cloves of chopped garlic and chopped ginger. Fry for a further minute.
Then add your spices and tomato purée. Stir well and cook for one minute before adding the rest of your veggies.
Beef Ragu
When it comes to beef ragu, it has to be Tom Kerridge’s recipe everytime! His sauce is absolutely heavenly - use on any pasta of your choice.
Ingredients: good-quality lean beef mince, olive poil, pancetta, onions, carrots, celery, cloves, mushrooms, bay leaves, tomato puree, red wine, red wine vinegar, chopped tomatoes, beef stock.
For the seasoning: True Star Anise, Pemba Cloves, Turkish Oregano Buds, and we like to replace the caster sugar with our Palmyra Flower Sugar (which is much more nutritious - and delicious!)
Top tips: The sauce will taste even better if left to cool completely and chilled for a day or two before reheating.
Roast chicken risotto with chicken crackling
One of the best things about Autumn has to be risotto! We love Cassie Best’s recipe which combines chicken crackling - something we’d never come across before but wow, it takes utterly divine! The perfect dish to make with your roast chicken leftovers!
Ingredients: Leftover roast chicken, carrot, onions, bay leaves, chicken stock cubes, butter, olive oil, garlic cloves, risotto rice, white wine, lemon zest, parmesan, truffle oil.
For the seasoning: All you need is thyme! And not just any thyme - Flowering Hyssop Thyme stands out from the rest with its captivating floral herbaceous flavour and aroma. Brighter-tasting, less bitter and far more complex than regular thyme. With wonderful hints of lavender, wild herbs, and pine - it will transform this risotto recipe into something exceptional!
Top tips: Don’t stop stirring!
Pear, apple and ginger crumble
And the excitement doesn’t stop there - Autumn means warm puddings! Yum! Let’s get those ovens on and get baking! This apple crumble recipe by Rupy Aujla and it’s absolutely sensational - packed with fruity festive flavours. What really makes it is the ground ginger and cinnamon, which will also fill the house with stunning aromas.
Ingredients: Tinned pears, apples, honey, raisins, lemon zest and gound Buffalo Ginger. For the topping: rolled oats, flaked almonds, olive oil, pinch of fleur de sel, ground Royal Cinnamon and we like to throw on some cranberries too. Serve with greek yoghurt.
Top tips from Rupy Aujla: Old, wrinkled apples are perfect for this crumble. Equally, if you have any pears that are on the turn, they can work well in place of the tinned pears.
Because this crumble doesn’t contain the usual butter/flour mixture, you can turn any leftovers into a delicious bircher muesli for breakfast. Stir some natural yoghurt into the leftover crumble, cover and place in the fridge overnight. Eat it as it is, or top with a handful of fresh fruit, nuts or seeds.