The clocks went back last weekend, and winter will soon be upon us, despite the lovely balmy autumnal days we’ve been enjoying of late. 

What better way is there to spend a cold, miserable, frosty day than to prepare delicious food to enjoy with friends and family? 

We’ll soon be needing to make the most of being holed up indoors, so the launch earlier this month of A Cookbook for Winter was perfectly timed.  The book is a collation of nearly 100 nurturing and comforting recipes for the colder months ahead.  

It takes us through: snow day soups & snacks; fondues & fireside suppers; warming one-pots & pies; winter salads; desserts & sweet bakes; and last, but not least, seasonal drinks.  Whether it’s perfecting a traditional recipe or experimenting with seasonal produce, winter cooking is an art that can nourish both body and soul. 

This gorgeous book is packed with information, inspiration and colour photos.  It’s a hardback, published by Ryland, Peters & Small at £22.

Here are a few recipes from the book that are perfect for Halloween, Bonfire night, or any cold wintery day. I’m sure they’ll inspire you to buy a copy of the book for yourself or as a Christmas gift.

Curried parsnip soup

Serves 4 Recipe by Hannah Miles

“Curried parsnip soup is one of the most traditional flavours of soup and is always popular. The sweetness of the vegetable pairs perfectly with the spices. This soup is topped with a traditional tadka of ghee with fried spices and curry leaves. 

I like quite a mild flavour so I use korma curry powder, but you can use a spicier version if you prefer.

You can even add a finely sliced red chilli at the same time as the garlic for extra fire. Parsnip crisps also make a fun topping – you can either buy these or follow the instructions in the tip below.”

2 tablespoons ghe

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2.5-cm/1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely sliced

500 g parsnips, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 litre vegetable stock

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

TADKA

2 tablespoons ghee

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

12 curry leaves

Heat the ghee in a large saucepan and fry the onion over a gentle heat until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for few minutes. Add the parsnips and curry powder and cook for a few minutes, then add the stock and simmer until the parsnips are soft.

Using a stick blender, blender or food processor, blitz the soup until smooth, and then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the ghee for the tadka and add the cumin seeds, nigella seeds and curry leaves. Heat for a few minutes until you can smell the spices and the seeds start to pop.

Pour the soup into four bowls and top each with a little of the hot tadka.

Tip: Parsnip crisps make a perfect topping for this soup. Using a swivel peeler or mandoline, cut very thin slices from a parsnip. Toss lightly in a drizzle of olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Place the strips (stretching them out so that they are flat) on a baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 160°C fan/180°C/350°F/Gas 4 for 5–10 minutes until crisp, checking regularly as they can burn quickly.

Roasted radicchio with blue cheese dressing

Serves 4–6  Recipe by Theo Michaels

“Radicchio has a striking red and white colour and natural bitterness that, when roasted, mellows to a warm smokiness.

“A tangy blue cheese dressing with crunchy walnuts and seeds is all it needs, oh and a little drizzle of sticky pomegranate molasses…”

100 g pearled spelt

2 medium radicchio heads

a splash of olive oil

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon runny honey

4 walnuts halves, crumbled

1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

50 g any blue cheese

3 tablespoons Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice

a pinch of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/Gas 7.

Rinse the pearled spelt under running water. Tip into a large saucepan and cover with salted water. Simmer for about 20–30 minutes, or until cooked; it should be chewy but without any crunch. Drain, season and set aside.

Trim the radicchio and quarter lengthways (or cut into sixths if they are on the large side) and put them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil, the melted butter and just a smidge of honey and season with salt and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat evenly. Roast in the preheated oven for about 15–20 minutes, turning them once during cooking. They are done when the stalk is just knife tender. Pour the cooked spelt into the baking sheet to coat in any of the juices, then transfer everything to a serving dish or platter.

To make the Blue Cheese Dressing, simply mash all the ingredients together with a fork in a small bowl and add a splash of water if it needs loosening to a pouring consistency. Drizzle the dressing over the radicchio and spelt, sprinkle with crumbled walnuts and pumpkin seeds and finish with a drizzle with pomegranate molasses.

Pear, rooibos, date & spelt loaf

Makes 1 loaf. Recipe by Kathy Kordalis

“This is a gentle sweet loaf that is great served for breakfast or brunch on a cold day. Infuse the dates with rooibos as its honeyed vanilla notes pair well with the pear and spelt for a moist loaf.”

100 ml infused rooibos tea

150 g dates, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda/baking soda

180 g butter, plus extra for greasing

100 g raw cane sugar

250 g wholemeal spelt flour

11/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

3 eggs, beaten

2 grated pears, plus 1 sliced on a mandoline to decorate

maple syrup, for brushing

a 900-g/2-lb. loaf pan

Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) Gas 3. Line the base and long sides of the loaf pan with parchment paper, buttering the pan and paper.

In a bowl add the rooibos tea to the dates and the bicarbonate of soda/ baking soda. Allow to sit and brew for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a stand mixer mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl mix the spelt flour, baking powder and cardamom, if using, and set aside. Gradually add the beaten eggs little by little into the butter and sugar, allowing it to mix in well. Turn off the machine and add the flour, the soaked and drained dates (discarding the soaking liquid) and the grated pears. Stir in by hand, making sure you do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, top with the sliced reserved pear and bake in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes or until baked through and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Brush the top of the loaf and the pears with maple syrup and leave to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely for a further 15 minutes before serving.