MORE PLEASE - POT ROASTS

Chicken, Arborio Rice and Cabbage, Sausages with Squash, Prunes and Radicchio, Lamb Meatballs with Marsala, Potatoes and Oregano

It’s a Pot Roast time of year, I think. Lazy comfort bubbling in the oven, candles lit, minimal washing up for a cosy, hot dinner. That sounds like a late January state of mind to me. To clarify, the key difference between a Pot Roast and a tray-bake is that I expect there to be a liquid or sauce of sorts at the bottom of my Pot Roast, whereas a tray-bake is more on the dry side, with crispy bits. Of course the other big difference is that the former is in a pot, and the latter in a tray. Pots tend to be thicker which helps prevent that liquid from escaping, as do their lids.

I really love a Pot Roast chicken. It stays wonderfully moist and of course all its juices flavour whatever is underneath/around it. In this case, I’ve gone for arborio rice - which becomes sludgy and soft in the best way. Along with Savoy Cabbage and an optional condiment of Salsa Rossa, for a bit of brightening acidity, this is a wondrously wholesome and easy dinner, yet somehow extremely impressive.

Pot Roast sausages are also reliably delicious. Slow cooking sausages is a great way to get the best of them, avoiding wrinkling and scorching and maximising on flavour potential. They perfume the rest of our pot - squishy squash, prunes and onions in white wine and stock with their heady herbal fat. Finished with some radicchio wilted over the top, the balance in this dish is glorious. Again wholesome, but also elegant.

Finally a very easy Lamb Meatballs, which you could argue are oven poached as much as pot roasted, with potatoes, Marsala and oregano. This is certainly the brothiest of all three dinners, but that broth is utter heaven. Meaty and savoury thanks to the Marsala, but lifted with the fresh oregano and lemon zest. It’s kind of like if you wanted to go to Greece, via Italy, but in midwinter.