Si King and Dave Myers share some of their favourite winter comfort meals
Chicken Tray Bake
Serves: 4
Prepare: 15 minutes
Cook: 50 minutes
500g waxy potatoes, thickly sliced
4 tbsp olive oil
1 fennel, cut into wedges
4 chicken thighs, on the bone
1 tsp dried oregano
100ml white wine
150ml chicken stock
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Leaves from 3 tarragon sprigs, finely
chopped, plus more to garnish
2 garlic cloves, grated or crushed
1 lemon, cut in half lengthways and
thinly sliced
2 courgettes, cut into slices, diagonally
200g asparagus spears, trimmed
8 baby leeks, trimmed
Leaves from a few parsley sprigs,
finely chopped
Salt and black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add salt, then the potato slices and cook for 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes thoroughly, then tip them back into the saucepan and leave over a low heat to steam briefly so they are as dry as possible.
2. Put a tablespoon of the oil into a large bowl. Add the fennel and potatoes and toss until they are well coated. Season them with salt and arrange them on a large roasting tin. Put a little more oil into the same bowl, add the chicken thighs and make sure they are well covered in the oil. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper and the oregano, then place them on top of the fennel and potatoes.
3. Place the tin in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Whisk the wine, stock and vinegar together and add the chopped tarragon and garlic, then pour this mixture around the chicken, potatoes and fennel. Put the remaining oil into a bowl and add the lemon slices, courgettes, asparagus and leeks.
4. Add the lemon and courgettes to the tin and roast for another 15 minutes. Then add the asparagus and leeks and roast for a final 10 minutes. Everything should be just tender and the chicken should be well browned. Mix the parsley and extra tarragon together and sprinkle over the tray bake before serving.
Spinach and Four-cheese Lasagne
Serves: 4–6
Prepare: 20 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 15 minutes
250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
½ tsp dried oregano
12 lasagne sheets
150g Taleggio cheese, roughly torn
100g mozzarella, roughly torn
Basil leaves, shredded
For the béchamel sauce:
800ml milk
1 slice of onion
2 bay leaves
60g butter
60g plain flour
For the spinach filling:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large courgette, coarsely grated
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
750g frozen whole leaf spinach,
defrosted and drained
50g ricotta
75g Parmesan, finely grated Zest of ½ lemon A few rasps of nutmeg
For the breadcr
