3 quick and easy winter warmer recipes
Guest post by Touchstone Student Living
Autumn is in full swing. Now you’re a student living away from home, your parents won’t be there to cook up a delicious meal for when you get in from your long day of lectures. However, you can cook healthy and hearty meals for yourself, and you don’t have to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen.
Here you can discover quick and easy winter warmer recipes that taste good and won’t affect your studying time or your social life!
#1 | Chicken and Leek Pot Pies
Forget going to your local chippy for a pie, you can make your own in an hour, including cooking time! If you’ve got time to scroll through your Facebook news feed or stalk that person from your course on Instagram, you’ve certainty got time to make tasty chicken and leek pot pies. Here’s how you do it:
Ingredients
25g butter
- 350g tub fresh cheese sauce*
- 200g cooked chicken, carved
- 320g readymade shortcrust pastry *
- 3 leeks, washed and sliced
- ½ bunch chives, chopped
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Dusting of plain flour
*Unless, of course, you fancy challenging yourself to making this from scratch!
Method
- Melt the butter and cook the leeks in a large, covered pan for 10 mins. Once they are soft, remove them from the heat and stir in the cheese sauce, cooked chicken, milk and mustard.
- Stir until everything is well incorporated and then spoon your mixture into small dishes or ramekins. If you’re a sucker for dessert, hold onto your glass dessert pots and recycle them; they’re perfect for dishes like this!
- Lightly dust the kitchen surface with flour and unroll the readymade pastry onto it. Then, use a big tin or mug as a stencil to create pastry pie tops and place them on your filled dishes. Trim off any excess pastry, crimp the edges and brush with beaten egg to glaze.
- Heat the oven to 190°C, unless you have a fan-assisted oven. In which case, reduce the temperature to 170°C. Cook the pies for 45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and puffed, and sit down to enjoy these seriously scrumptious, perfect pies!
#2 | Sausage and Bean Hotpot
There’s nothing quite as comforting as sausages in the winter. Bangers and mash is a classic, but have you ever tried a sausage and bean hotpot? This dish takes just 10 minutes to prepare so there’s no excuse not to try it! Here’s how to make it:
Ingredients
- 8 pork sausages
- 2 red peppers
- 1 onion
- 400g chopped tomatoes
- 410g red kidney beans
- 420g baked beans
- Fresh loaf of bread
Method
- Cut the sausages in half. Finely chop the onion and then place the sausages, along with the onion, into a large frying pan.
- Gently fry until the sausages are golden brown and the onion is soft. Then slice the red peppers, add them to the pan along with the tin of tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
- Drain the red kidney beans and add them to the pan in addition to the baked beans and cook for a further 5 minutes. Serve with fresh bread and enjoy! You’ll love mopping up the juices of this delicious winter warmer.
#3 | Butternut Macaroni Cheese
If you love macaroni cheese then be sure to try this updated version of the classic recipe. The creamy and cheesy pasta dish is easy to make and it contains a superfood! You can’t go wrong with butternut macaroni cheese. Here’s how to make it:
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash, chopped
- 500ml milk
- 300g macaroni
- 200g mature cheddar
- 50g parmesan
- 50g butter
- 50g plain flour
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp English mustard powder
- Salt and pepper to season
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C, or 200°C if you have a fan-assisted oven. Place the butternut squash onto a baking sheet with the olive oil and roast for 15-20 minutes. While the squash is in the oven, cook the macaroni and drain.
- Melt the butter in a pan, while being careful not burn it, and stir in the flour along with the mustard powder to form a paste. Slowly whisk in the milk and leave to simmer, stirring constantly.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and mash in a third of the squash with the cheddar and half the parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the macaroni with the rest of the squash.
- Transfer the contents of the pan into an ovenproof dish, add the remaining parmesan and bake in the oven for 15 minutes until bubbling. Bon appétit!
Now you know of some quick and easy winter warmer recipes, you can impress your parents with your newly found cooking skills when you next return home!
If you’re interested in finding student accommodation for the next academic term, look no further than Touchstone Student Living. Here you’ll find comfortable, but affordable, flats and studios
