4 Foolproof Recipes Perfect For Cold Weather

Treat yourself to these delicious, tried-and-tested seasonal recipes to keep the cold at bay.

1. Gougères (French Cheesy Choux Buns)

Gougères are baked savory choux pastry mixed with cheese: also known as the perfect bite-size appetizer. If recipes had a motto, this one’s would be ‘Just one more’!

Gougères are cheesy buns made with savory choux pastry. Photo by Author.

Preparation time: 15 min | Baking time: 25 min | Makes for 24 buns

Ingredients:

• 150 g of grated Mature Cheddar
• 4 eggs
• 100 g of salted butter
• 150 g of flour

Recipe:

Preheat the oven at 200°C (390°F).

Cut the salted butter in small pieces and melt it in a saucepan on low heat. Add 250 ml of water and bring to a boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour. Mix briskly with a rubber spatula.

Place the saucepan back on the hob (lower the heat setting to medium-low): the dough should detach from the walls of the saucepan.

Remove the pan from the heat once more and incorporate the eggs one by one. Ensure the dough is well mixed and smooth before adding in the next egg. Then incorporate the grated cheese: the choux dough is now ready.

Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Use a tablespoon to make balls with the dough and space 12 in each tray. Try to create them with a roughly even size to ensure homogeneous baking throughout the batch.

Bake for 25 min and serve immediately.

Use a tablespoon to shape the dough balls and space them out in a lined tray. Bake! Photo by Author.

The structure of a baked gougère. Photo by Author.

Mix it up! Swap the cheddar for Emmental or any other hard cheese.

2. Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Uchiki Kuri Squash Soup

Butternut squash, sweet potato and Uchiki Kuri squash soup topped with pumpkin seeds. Photo By Author.

Cold weather comes hand in hand with bringing back soups into your cooking repertoire. Bonus points if you can utilize produce from your kitchen garden!

Preparation time: 20 min | Baking time: 45 min | Makes for 4–5 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato (500 g)
• 1 Butternut Squash (approx. 1 kg)
• 1 Uchiki Kuri Squash (Red Onion Squash | Potimarron) (approx. 1 kg)
• 2 cubes of chicken or vegetable stock

Recipe:

Preheat the oven at 200°C (390°F).

Peel and dice the Butternut Squash, Onion Squash and Sweet Potato. Place into a large baking dish (you may need two) and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add a dash of olive oil and shake the dish to evenly coat the vegetables in oil and condiments.

Bake for 25-30 min until roasted. This will give your soup plenty of character.

Add the roasted vegetables in a stockpot.

Prepare 1 L of boiling water with the kettle and incorporate the stock cubes. Use this water to just cover the vegetables in the stockpot, discard any excess.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 25 min then mash together using a hand blender with the soup attachment.

Top up with walnuts or pumpkin seeds and serve with the scrumptious gougères.

3. Baked Camembert

If you have never tried it before and love cheese, you are in for a treat!

Score the Camembert in a ‘X’ pattern before baking. Select a cheese made with unpasteurized milk for extra flavor. Photo by Author.

Preparation time: <5 min | Baking time: 25 min | Makes for 2–3 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 Camembert. For optimum taste, pick one made with unpasteurized milk.
• Whole almonds and walnuts

Recipe:

Preheat the oven at 180°C (355°F).

Take your Camembert out of the wrapping paper, score its top in an ‘X’ pattern and place it in a baking dish (this will also be the serving dish).

Bake for 25 min.

In the meantime, place whole almonds and walnuts in a pan and torrefy on the hob on a high heat setting. Roast to taste but make sure they don’t burn: watch these like a hawk as they will catch quickly.

Serve the baked Camembert topped with the roasted nuts, a salad, your favorite bread and honey: the perfect dip and share!

Mix it up! You can make this recipe using Brie, equally guiltily lush.

4. Courgette and Kale Soup with Ras El Hanout

Another delicious and easy to make soup if you want to use seasonal produce. The best-kept secret to bringing back aroma to an old watery courgette? You guessed: ras el hanout.

Preparation time: 10 min | Baking time: 45 min | Makes for 2–3 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 courgettes (or 1 large marrow)
• 200 g of kale (I used Nero di Toscana from my veggie garden)
• 1 large yellow or white onion
• Ras el hanout seasoning
• 1 cube of chicken or vegetable stock

Recipe:

Preheat your oven at 200°C (390°).

Peel and dice the courgettes, place into a baking dish. Sprinkle generously about half the courgettes with Ras el Hanout seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Add 2 tbs of olive oil and shake the dish to coat the courgette. Roast for 20 min.

Slice the kale leaves into 2 cm chunks and place them in another baking dish, add a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 10 min – keep an eye on it and make sure they do not burn. Try it, crispy kale is delicious just on its own!

In a stockpot, add the finely diced onion and a dash of olive oil and cook on medium heat. Add all the roasted vegetables in the stockpot.

Prepare 500 ml of boiling water with the kettle and incorporate the vegetable or chicken cube. Use this water to just cover the vegetables in the stockpot, discard any excess.

Simmer for 20 min and mash together using a hand blender with the soup attachment.

Serve with just a dash of crème fraîche and croûtons.