Slow and tender touch

A couple of cool autumn nights is all it takes for me to start thinking about heartier food. My mind focuses on slow-cooked meats, tender braises and earthy flavours - after all, we're as seasonally sensitive as the produce we eat.

Lamb, pea and artichoke ragu

The large chunks of lamb in this dish make for a hearty meal. They also allow you to get good colour on the meat when browning, which makes the ragu extra intense while the lamb becomes tender.

1.5kg lamb shoulder, fat left on, cut in 5cm-6cm chunks

Salt flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

6 eschalots, sliced thickly in rounds

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 celery heart (the pale inner stalks), finely diced

6 cloves garlic, finely sliced

2 tbsp dried oregano

1 fresh bay leaf

300ml dry white wine

1.5 litres chicken stock

450g artichoke hearts in brine

100g frozen peas

500g small pasta (such as tubetti, orzo), cooked

4 sprigs mint, finely chopped

Grana padano cheese, to serve

1. Place a large, heavy-based pot on high heat. Season and oil the lamb and brown the meat very well all over - do this in batches, rather than crowding the pot. Remove and set aside.

2. Add the eschalots, carrots, celery and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables start to caramelise. Add the oregano and bay leaf and return the lamb to the pot. Pour over the wine to deglaze. Reduce by half.

3. Add the chicken stock and simmer for two hours until the meat is tender and the liquid is reduced by about two-thirds. Add the artichokes and simmer for 10 minutes. Check and adjust the seasoning.

4. If you want to serve this later, refrigerate or freeze. To serve, reheat the ragu, then add the peas, cooked pasta, mint and some grated grana padano. Mix well and heat through. Check the seasoning and serve immediately with more cheese on the side.

Drink Sangiovese

Serves 6

Spiced cabbage rolls with pork, porcini, lentils and rice

This is one of those recipes almost worth making for the leftovers alone. It's delicious straight from the oven, but over a day or two the flavours mesh and intensify.

1 large white cabbage

220g long-grain rice

100g puy lentils

100ml extra virgin olive oil

1 large brown onion, finely diced

6 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp coriander seeds, ground (or ground coriander)

2 tsp allspice berries, ground

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

20g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 200ml boiling water for 20 minutes or 30 minutes, then drained (keep the water) and finely chopped

2 lemons, juiced

Salt flakes

6 pork and fennel sausages

2 tins (420g each) chopped tomatoes

1 vegetable stock cube

3 fresh bay leaves

Thick plain yoghurt, to serve

1. Peel off 10 or so whole cabbage leaves and blanch in boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Lift on to a clean tea towel to drain.

2. Boil the rice and lentils for 6 minutes together, then drain.

3. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees fan-forced, 190 degrees conventional.

4. In a large frying pan over medium heat, add the oil, onion, garlic, spices and chilli and cook for a few minutes. Next add the porcini, lentils and rice. Stir, then add the lemon juice and 200ml of the porcini water. Cook over high heat until the liquid is absorbed. Season and cool a little.

5. Remove the sausage meat from the casings and crumble into the rice mix; combine.

6. Bring 1 1/2 litres of water to the boil in a medium pot with the tomatoes and stock cube. Turn off the heat. Season lightly.

7. Spoon about three heaped tablespoons of filling into the base of each drained leaf, fold in the sides and roll tightly. Place each roll in a rectangular ovenproof dish. Repeat until the mix is gone.

8. Pour the tomato liquid over the top - you might not need it all if the rolls fit snugly. Tuck the bay leaves between the rolls, then cover tightly with a layer of baking paper and a layer of foil. Bake for an hour. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving with a dollop of yoghurt.

Tip: Choose a cabbage with loosely packed leaves, as they will be easier to peel off without breaking. If you're still finding this hard, remove the core and immerse the whole cabbage in boiling water for a minute or two, remove and peel off the first few leaves and repeat.

Drink Dark, malty beer or spicy, cool-climate shiraz

Makes about 10 rolls

Vietnamese braised beef with lemongrass and star anise

This is my version of the classic Vietnamese beef stew bo kho. It's one of those relatively simple dishes with almost endless subtle variations that would, I imagine, be the subject of fierce debate among aficionados.

1.2kg beef chuck, in 2cm-3cm dice

Salt flakes

2 generous pinches saffron

Vegetable or olive oil

4 sticks lemongrass, white part only

4 long red chillies

4 small red chillies

8cm piece ginger

5 purple eschalots

6 garlic cloves

3 star anise

1 tsp five-spice powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tin tomatoes, drained and crushed

4 tbsp fish sauce

3 tbsp sugar

1 large daikon (Japanese radish), peeled and cut in 4cm rounds

Rice, to serve

Coriander leaves, to serve

Limes, to serve

Peanut, sesame and shallot dust

6 tbsp unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

4 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan (watch carefully, they burn quickly)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt flakes

2 tbsp crispy fried shallots (from Asian grocers)

1. To make the dust, in a mortar and pestle or small food processor, grind the peanuts, sesame seeds, sugar and salt together, then stir through the crispy shallots.

2. Season the beef and toss with the saffron and a little oil.

3. Roughly chop the lemongrass, chillies, ginger, eschalots and garlic, add to a food processor and process to a paste.

4. In a large pot, fry the paste in a little oil about 3 minutes or till fragrant, add the beef and stir. Seal the meat, add the star anise, five spice, cinnamon, tomatoes, fish sauce, sugar and half a teaspoon of salt. Stir. Add two litres of water.

5. Simmer gently for about two hours or until the beef is tender. Add the daikon and cook for a further 30 minutes, until the daikon is tender and the sauce reduced.

6. Serve with rice, coriander and lime. Sprinkle with crispy shallot and peanut dust.

Drink Lager

Serves 6