Midweek meals: Five cosy autumn dinners ready in an hour or less

These dishes will warm you up as the days get cooler

Autumn dinners that will warm you up from the inside out

One-pot chicken casserole

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

With apricots and green olives, this chicken casserole is sure to be a new midweek staple

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 55 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 2 onions, finely chopped

• 6 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• ½ tsp paprika

• 4 chicken breasts, cubed

• 2 peppers, deseeded and diced

• 10 apricots, halved

• 10 stoned green olives, halved

• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

• ½ courgette, chopped

• 300ml chicken stock

• salt

• pepper

• handful of mint leaves, chopped

• brown rice to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large casserole over medium heat.

2. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 3 minutes. Add the cinnamon, cumin and paprika and cook for 2 minutes. Stir frequently and add a splash of water if the pan gets dry. 

3. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in peppers, apricots, olives, lemon, courgette and stock. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. 

4. When you are ready to serve, season to taste. Ladle the stew into warmed serving bowls and sprinkle over the mint. Serve with brown rice.

 

Michael Kelly’s Sausage and Beer Stew

recipe by:Darina Allen

So many of my recipes at this time of the year focus on the available root crops that I have either in the ground or in storage, such as carrots, parsnips, celeriac and beets. You could use celery instead of celeriac, swede instead of squash, etc.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• olive oil

• 6-8 good-quality dinner sausages

• 2 onions, diced

• 1 leek, trimmed and finely chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, diced

• 2 large carrots, diced

• 1/2 celeriac, diced

• 1 x 330ml (11fl oz) bottle of beer

• 500ml (18fl oz) beef or chicken stock

• 400g (14oz) tin of tomatoes or 2 tablespoons tomato purée

• 2 tbsp chopped herbs (parsley, rosemary and thyme)

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tbsp mustard (I use Dijon)

• 1/4 squash or pumpkin, peeled and chopped into large chunks

• salt and pepper

• crusty bread or baked potatoes, to serve

Method

1. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan. Cut the sausages into chunks and fry them for a minute or so on each side, until browned.

2. In the same frying pan, fry the onions, leek, garlic, carrots and celeriac on a gentle heat for about 10 minutes, until soft. Transfer to a heavy saucepan or casserole.

3. Pour the bottle of beer into the frying pan to deglaze the pan, scraping any nice brown bits off the pan with a wooden spatula. Bring to the boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce down a little. Add it to the veg with the stock, tomatoes, herbs, bay leaf and mustard.

4. Bring to the boil and then add the squash or pumpkin. Cook for 15 minutes with the lid on.

5. Add the sausages to the saucepan and cook for another 15 minutes.

6. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Check the consistency - leave to simmer for another 10 minutes if it needs to be thickened or add a little boiling water if it's too thick.

7. Serve with crusty bread or baked potatoes.

 

Garlic chicken

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

An ultimate comfort dish, chicken pieces are well seasoned with garlic and served in a jammy tomato sauce to be served with crusty bread.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 55 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 500g cherry tomatoes

• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled

• 1 onion, chopped into chunks

• 2 red peppers, chopped into chunks

• 3 chicken breasts, sliced

• Salt and pepper

• 1 sprig fresh thyme

Method

1. Preheat a fan oven to 190°C.

2. In a large, heavy baking dish combine the oil, tomatoes, garlic, onion, peppers, and sliced chicken breasts. Season well with salt and pepper, then stir in the fresh thyme.

3. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through to make sure that nothing gets too charred.

4. Serve by bringing the baking dish directly to the table and don’t forget to dunk hunks of crusty bread into the flavoured oil.

5. Recipe Note: Add in other soft vegetables that you have to hand like courgette, aubergine, or even pumpkin if you like.

 

Pinch of Nom’s chilli mac ‘n’ cheese recipe

recipe by:Pinch of Nom

A one-pot version of everyone’s favourite comfort food.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 14 mins

Cooking Time

 34 mins

Total Time

 48 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Low-calorie cooking spray

• 2 onions, peeled and finely diced

• 2 carrots, peeled and diced

• 500g 5%-fat minced beef

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

• 2tsp mild chilli powder

• 1tsp ground cumin

• 1tsp dried oregano

• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

• 2 peppers, any colour, deseeded and diced

• 2tbsp tomato puree

• 2tbsp Henderson’s Relish

• 600ml beef stock (2 beef stock cubes dissolved in 600ml boiling water)

• 300g dried macaroni

• 1 x 400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed

• 180g reduced-fat mature Cheddar, grated

• Small handful of fresh coriander, chopped (optional)

Method

1. Spray a large saucepan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and sauté for five minutes until softened.

2. Add the mince and cook for a further five minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, until the mince is no longer pink.

3. Add the garlic, chilli powder, cumin and oregano and stir in for one minute until the spices become fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes, peppers, tomato puree, Henderson’s Relish and stock, and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to medium-low, cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 20 minutes, until the carrots are soft.

4. Add the macaroni to the pan, stir well and replace the lid. Allow to cook for a further 10–12 minutes, until the pasta is just cooked.

5. Stir in the beans and cheese, reserving a little cheese to garnish if you wish, allowing two minutes for the beans to heat through and the cheese to melt.

6. Stir in the coriander, if using, and serve!

 

Rustic Ravioli Lasagne

recipe by:Caught Snackin'

Lasagne can be a bit of a faff to make – but this ingenious hack takes all the work out of it, by layering up ravioli.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• 450ml tomato pizza sauce

• 500g fresh vegetarian ravioli (such as butternut squash or mushroom filling)

• 18 mozzarella cheese slices

• Drizzle of olive oil

• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5.

2. Pour one-third of the tomato sauce across the base of a large oven dish and top with one-third of the ravioli, in a single layer. Arrange six slices of mozzarella across the top and season with salt and pepper. Repeat this layering twice more.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 25 minutes, until golden and bubbling, then serve.