Warming comfort foods don’t have to rib-stickingly heavy. In these recipes from his new book River Cottage Good Comfort, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall puts a nutritious and wholesome twist on some of our best-loved treats
Bangers and mash, macaroni cheese, roast chicken dinner, hot buttered crumpets, steamed sponge with custard… I’m betting that some of these (perhaps all of them) make your tummy rumble and your mouth water.
But perhaps they also make your heart sink a bit, as you contemplate the ‘not so good for you’ reputation of such lavish food. There’s a general perception that the food we crave and love is one thing, while the food that’s actually good for us is another, and never the twain shall meet. I promise you, it doesn’t have to be that way.
I have produced my fair share of rib-sticking comfort recipes down the years. More recently, I have been giving a lot of attention to the foods, and combinations of ingredients, that help to keep us well. And far from thinking that these approaches run on parallel tracks, I’m convinced they can, and should, happily come together. And so I’m setting out to show you how our most beloved dishes – including those I’ve just mentioned – can be gently tweaked
to be not only wholeheartedly delicious, but also wonderfully nutritious. What food doesn’t need to be to comfort us is heavy, cloying, too rich or too sweet. You should feel good after you have eaten it, not comatose. And that is so often to do with balance. Underpinning it all is my exhortation to ‘go whole’. The more whole, unrefined ingredients we can get on our plates, the better.
Along with ‘wholing up’, the other mission I’m on is to bring you a much greater variety of good ingredients. Increasing the number of different whole foods we eat each week ensures that a broad range of nutrients are reaching our systems. We know that a varied diet is associated with better gut health – and we are discovering what profound benefits that brings.
I’m not saying that in moving to wholer versions of comfort foods, “you will never notice the difference”. Rather, I’m betting that you will enjoy the difference. I’ve tried to make our favourite dishes healthier not by taking stuff out, but by putting more good things in – more colourful produce and more gut-friendly ingredients.
VENISON RAGU
SERVES 4–5
It’s great to include wild meat in your repertoire, and venison makes a fantastic ‘ragu’ – a rich meat, veg and tomato sauce that is lovely with pasta.
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
100g unsmoked streaky bacon, chopped, or bacon lardons
1kg diced venison shoulder
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, scrubbed or peeled and chopped quite fine
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves A few sprigs of thyme
150ml white wine
400g tin plum tomatoes, or about
500ml passata
500ml vegetable or meat stock
A dash of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Sea salt and black pepper
TO SERVE
Wholewheat pasta of your choice
Grated Parmesan or crumbled ricotta
METHOD
1 Heat a flameproof casserole over a medium heat and add the oil. Add the bacon and fry until golden. Scoop on to a plate, leaving the fat in the pan.
2 Season the pieces of venison and add half of them to the casserole, frying on all sides to brown well. Remove the meat and add to the bacon. Repeat to colour the rest of the venison. Set aside.
3 Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic and herbs to the casserole and sizzle for a few minutes, pushing the veg around to pick up any brown meaty bits on the base of the casserole. Turn down the heat and sweat the veg for 10 minutes until starting to soften. Pour in the wine and simmer until reduced by about two-thirds.
4 Return the bacon and meat to the pan, along with the tomatoes (crushing them first in your hands or with a fork) or passata, and the stock. The liquid should just cover the meat, so add a dash more water if it’s needed. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook very gently for about 1½ hours until the meat is tender.
5 Remove the venison from the casserole and set aside. Taste the sauce and add a dash of Worcestershire sauce if you like. If it isn’t already deliciously rich, simmer uncovered for 15–20 mins to reduce and concentrate the flavour. Check seasoning.
6 Meanwhile, cut the venison into smaller pieces with a knife and fork. Return the meat to the sauce and check the seasoning.
7 Serve on wholewheat linguine or spaghetti, with a dusting of Parmesan or crumbled ricotta… or both.
MY MUM’S FISH PIE
SERVES 6
Fish pie has long been one of my favourite comfort foods and this silky-sauced example is based on my mum’s recipe, so it is full of happy, homey memories. These days I make it with stock rather than béchamel, so it’s full flavoured without being too creamy. I have topped the pie with a skin-on spud and butter bean mash.
INGREDIENTS
3 medium eggs
A knob of butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large or 2 slim celery sticks, chopped
1 small parsnip, or a wedge of celeriac, peeled and chopped (optional)
Sea salt and black pepper
100ml dry white wine
20g fine plain wholemeal flour
400ml hot fish or vegetable stock
300g sustainably caught haddock, cod or pollack fillets
300g sustainably caught smoked haddock, cod or pollack fillets
100g sustainably sourced, peeled cold-water prawns
150g frozen peas, defrosted
2–3 tbsp chopped parsley
SPUD AND BEAN MASH
750g floury potatoes, such as King Edward, scrubbed but not peeled
400g tin butter beans, drained
100ml warm milk
50g butter
METHOD
1 For the topping, cut the potatoes into large chunks (no smaller than an egg), place in a large pan, cover with water and add salt. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15–20 minutes until completely tender. Drain and return to the hot pan. Add the butter beans, warm milk, butter and some salt and pepper. Stir together with a wooden spoon then use a potato masher to bash the mix into a coarse, chunky mash.
2 While the potatoes are cooking, boil the eggs: lower them into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 7 minutes. Drain, then run under cold water in the pan to cool. Crack the shells and set aside.
3 Heat the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery, and parsnip or celeriac if using, with a pinch of salt and pepper. When sizzling, lower the heat. Let the veg sweat for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
4 Add the wine to the veg and let it bubble, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, until most of the liquid is evaporated. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the hot stock, and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is silky and smooth. Take off the heat, taste and add a little more salt and pepper if needed. Set aside.
5 Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Slice the fresh and smoked fish fillets off the skin, removing any bones. Cut the fish into 3cm chunks. Stir the fish, prawns, peas and parsley into the saucy veg and transfer to an oven dish. Peel and quarter the boiled eggs and press these into the fish mixture.
6 Spoon the beany mash on top and spread out to cover the filling, keeping it nubbly. Bake for about 30 minutes until the mash is golden and the filling is bubbling up around the edges. Serve as it is, or with greens such as kale, cabbage or spinach.
‘CREAM’ OF ROASTED MUSHROOM SOUP
SERVES 6
Roasting intensifies the wonderful savoury flavour of mushrooms for this chuck-it-in-the-oven, honest-to-goodness soup, while cashew nuts break down in the blender to lend a lovely creamy tenderness.
INGREDIENTS
750g mushrooms (ideally darker varieties, such as chestnut or portobello)
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 celery sticks, sliced
1 medium carrot, scrubbed or peeled and roughly chopped
75g plain cashew nuts
3 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
A couple of bay leaves
A couple of sprigs of thyme (optional)
Sea salt and black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
100ml dry white wine
800ml hot vegetable stock
Chopped parsley, to finish (optional)
METHOD
1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5. Very roughly chop the mushrooms, stalks and all. Divide them and all the other veg between two large roasting trays. Add the garlic, cashews, bay leaves and thyme if using, distributing them evenly between the trays. Season with salt and pepper, trickle 1 tbsp olive oil over each tray, toss together and roast for 20 minutes.
2 Trickle the wine over the roasted veg, stir, then return the trays to the oven for 20 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft and the carrots are tender. Discard the bay leaves and thyme, if used.
3 Scrape all the veg and any juices into a jug blender. Add the hot stock and blitz to a smooth soup. If you only have a small blender, you might need to do this in batches – the total volume of soup is not far off 2 litres.
4 Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed, plus a splash of hot water if the soup is too thick. Reheat the soup gently in a saucepan, without boiling.
5 Serve the soup in warmed bowls, topped with a sprinkling of chopped parsley if you have some, and any of the toppings suggested below if you fancy.
TOPPING IDEAS
Wholegrain croûtons: Cut 1 or 2 thick slices of wholemeal bread into 2cm cubes and fry in a little olive oil until golden and crisp.
Toasted cashews (and other nuts): Roughly chop a good handful of cashews, walnuts or hazelnuts, or cooked chestnuts. Toast in the oven or a dry frying pan.
OATY DUNKING COOKIES
MAKES ABOUT 8
This is such a simple and rewarding little recipe – just right for when you get a hankering for something sweet to dip into a cup of tea. I have deliberately kept this batch small, so you don’t have a tinful of cookies sitting around!
INGREDIENTS
125g butter
50g soft light brown sugar
125g fine plain wholemeal flour
75g porridge oats
A pinch of salt
METHOD
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2 Put the butter and brown sugar into a small saucepan over a low heat to melt the butter gently, stirring often. Take off the heat.
3 Mix the flour, oats and salt and stir into the melted mixture. Take dessertspoonfuls of the mix and place in piles on the baking sheet, then use the back of the spoon to flatten each pile into a rough circle, no more than about 1cm deep.
4 Bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes, until the cookies are turning golden at the edges. They will still be soft at this point: leave to cool completely and crisp up before removing from the tray. Store in an airtight container for up to a week. Serve with a mug of tea, coffee or hot chocolate, for dunking your cookies.
LEMON AND RAISIN SPONGE PUDDING
SERVES 6–8
Is it a steamed lemon pudding? Is it a spotted dick? I’d say it’s both. A lemony dick no less… Crank up the comfort factor on a chilly evening or indulgent weekend lunchtime with this hot, light and fruity pud.
INGREDIENTS
150g butter, softened, plus extra to grease the basin
100g raisins
150g fine plain wholemeal flour
2 level tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
75g golden caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons and juice of 1 lemon
3 medium eggs
LEMONY TOPPING
Juice of 1 lemon (use the other zested lemon, see above)
2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
TO SERVE
Cream, yoghurt, crème fraîche or custard
METHOD
1 Butter an 850ml pudding basin.
2 For the lemony topping, in a small bowl stir together the lemon juice and brown sugar until well blended (don’t worry if the sugar doesn’t fully dissolve). Tip this mixture into the buttered basin.
3 Toss the raisins with 1 tbsp of the flour and set aside (the flour coating helps to stop the raisins sinking as the pudding cooks). Combine the remaining flour with the baking powder and salt.
4 Put the butter, sugar and lemon zest into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using an electric hand mixer or the stand mixer, beat together until light and fluffy. Add one egg, with a spoonful of the flour mix, and beat in. Repeat to incorporate the other two eggs.
5 Tip the remaining flour into the mixture and use a large spoon to fold it in lightly but thoroughly, then fold in the lemon juice. Finally, lightly fold in the floured raisins.
6 Spoon the mixture carefully into the pudding basin – the lemony topping at the bottom will rise up the sides; don’t worry about this. Cover the basin with a pleated sheet of foil or a pleated double layer of baking paper and secure with string under the rim.
7 Put a small plate or trivet in the base of a large, deep saucepan and stand the pudding on it. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the basin. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and place over a low to medium heat to bring the water to a simmer. Steam the pudding like this for 2 hours, topping up the boiling water a couple of times as it cooks.
8 Lift the pudding basin out of the pan and remove the foil or baking paper. Loosen the sides of the pudding with the tip of a knife, then carefully invert the pudding on to a plate. Serve the pudding in slices, with a trickle of cream, or a spoonful of yoghurt or crème fraîche.
This is an extract from River Cottage Good Comfort: Best-Loved Favourites Made Better For You by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, with photography by Simon Wheeler (Bloomsbury Publishing, £27, hardback).