Meals to make you feel good this January

We don’t know about you, but there’s nothing that gets us through a frosty evening commute better than the thought of a hearty, home-cooked dinner. And with the temperatures dropping even more this January, we invited our friends at Le Creuset to share some of their delicious, feel-good recipes.
Bon appétit! 

Pea and Coconut Soup

Vegan 
Serves 2-4 
Cooking time: 1 hour

You will need

Ingredients 

• 1 bunch spring onions 
• 1 tsp coconut or olive oil 
• 1kg frozen peas 
• 1 × 400ml tin coconut milk, reserving a little of the cream on top for drizzling 
• 1 tbsp vegetable stock powder, or ½ stock cube 
• 1 large bunch basil 
• 1 lime 
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Method 

1. Fill and boil a kettle and begin to get all your ingredients and equipment together, ready to go. 

2. Place a Le Creuset 24cm Round Casserole with its lid on, over a low to medium heat. 

3. Chop the spring onions quite finely and put them into the pan with the coconut oil and cook for 4 minutes, until softened. 

4. Add the peas to the pan with the coconut milk, the stock powder or cube and 750ml of boiling water, then put the lid on and bring to the boil. 

5. Once boiling, simmer, still on a medium heat for 6 minutes until the peas are cooked. 

6. Take off the heat. Add most of the basil, stalks and all, and the juice of the lemon and use a stick blender to blitz the soup until super-smooth. 

7. Serve ladled into bowls with a little olive oil and the rest of the basil. 

Beef and Ale Pie

Serves 2-4 
Cooking time: 2+ hours
Please note – this recipe was originally created to fill a 23cm oval casserole dish, so we advise to double the quantity of filling specified in the ingredients list. 

You will need

Ingredients 

• 500g chuck steak or blade steak 
• 3 tablespoons sunflower oil 
• 50g smoked bacon lardons 
• 1 medium onion – halved and thinly sliced 
• ½ teaspoon white sugar 
• 2 garlic cloves – crushed 
• 15g plain flour 
• 100ml brown ale, Guinness or stout 
• 100ml homemade beef stock 
• The leaves from 2 large thyme sprigs 
• 2 fresh bay leaves 
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
• 20g butter 
• 100g chestnut mushrooms – wiped clean 
• 250g chilled puff pastry 
• 1 medium egg – beaten
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method 

1. Cut the beef into 4cm chunks and toss with plenty of seasoning. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the casserole dish over a high heat, add the bacon, and fry briskly until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add 4-5 pieces of the beef and lower the heat slightly. Brown them well over a medium-high heat, spoon onto a plate and repeat with the rest of the beef. 

2. Add the rest of the oil to the pan with the onions and sugar and fry them for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until they are richly caramelised. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. 

3. Stir the flour into the onions, followed by the brown ale, stock, thyme leaves, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce and bring to the boil, stirring. Return the beef and bacon to the pan and season with a little more salt and pepper. Part-cover and simmer for 1½ hours, stirring gently occasionally. 

4. Halve, quarter or leave the mushrooms whole, according to their size. Melt the butter in a small frying pan, add the mushrooms and fry briskly for 2 minutes. Stir them into the beef and continue to cook for another 30 minutes until the beef is tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened nicely. Remove and discard the bay leaves, push a pie bird or funnel into the middle of the mixture and leave it to go cold. 

5. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface and using the lid of the casserole as a template, cut out a pastry oval that is 2cm larger than the top of the lid all the way around. Cut a small cross in the centre. 

6. Brush the rim and outside edge of the casserole dish with a little beaten egg. Lay over the pastry lid so that the pie bird or funnel pokes through the hole and press it firmly onto the edge and down the sides of the casserole dish to ensure it is sealed. Decorate around the pie bird/funnel with some pastry leaves cut from the trimmings and mark the edge of the casserole with the tines of a fork. Chill for 30 minutes. 

7. Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Bake the pie for 30-35 minutes until the pastry is puffed up, crisp and golden and the filling is bubbling hot. 

Deep Dish Apple Pie with Salted Butterscotch Sauce 

Serves: 8 
Cooking time: 1.5 hours

You will need

Ingredients 

Pie Crust:  

• 350g cake wheat flour  
• 100g fine rye flour 
• 45ml (3 tablespoons) icing sugar 
• ½ teaspoon fine salt300g cold, salted butter, cubed 
• 80ml (1/3 cup) ice water  

Filling: 

• 120g demerara sugar 
• 40ml (2 ½ tablespoons) cornflour 
• 5ml (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon 
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 30ml (2 tablespoons) brandy  
• 60ml (1/4 cup) fresh cream  
• 7-8 Pink Lady apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½ cm wedges  
• 30g (2 tablespoons) butter, cubed  
• Egg wash, (1 egg, lightly whisked) 
• 30ml (2 tablespoons) demerara sugar  

Butterscotch sauce:  

• 100g (½ cup) salted butter 
• 110g (½ cup demerara sugar  
• 250ml (1 cup) fresh cream  
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract  
• ½ teaspoon sea salt 

Method 

1. For the pastry, combine the cake flour, rye flour, icing sugar and salt in a processor. Pulse to aerate the flour. Add the butter and pulse until the texture is roughly crumbed. Add the water and pulse until the dough comes together. Turn out and press together lightly. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.  

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the oven rack on the lowest rung.  

3. Divide the dough in half. On a floured board, roll each piece out to a 3mm thickness. Line your Le Creuset dish on the base and sides. Chill for 10 minutes.  

4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the demerara sugar, cornflour, cinnamon, nutmeg, brandy, and cream. Add the apples and toss to coat.  

5. Add the apples and juices into the pastry case. Scatter over the cubed butter and cover with the remaining pastry, either plaiting 2.5cm strips of pastry or a full pastry sheet. Trim the overhanging edges and pinch together to seal. Brush with egg wash and scatter over the demerara sugar. Cut three small steam slits on top if the pastry is a full sheet. Bake for 15 minutes on the lower shelf. Reduce the temperature to 180°C, move the shelf to the middle rung and bake for a further 60-65 minutes. Cover with foil for the last 15-20 minutes to prevent over-browning.  

6. For the butterscotch sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the sugar and cook until the mixture is a deep caramel colour, about 5-6 minutes. Pour in the cream and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and salt.  

7. Cool the pie on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve with butterscotch sauce and vanilla bean ice cream.  

If you made one of Le Creuset’s delicious recipes, we want to see! Tag us on Instagram at @brandalleyuk. 
Shop more Le Creuset cookware in our Winter Kitchen Refresh sale.