Meatballs, soups, stews, slow cooks and tarts: the dishes you loved this winter

Cold-weather cooking is all about warming the house with enticing aromas and filling the table with hearty goodness that heats from within.

Hot to go: winter is a wonderful time for cooking.

Elizabeth Meryment

3 min read

11:33AMAugust 16, 2024

The Weekend Australian Magazine

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As we struggle towards the new dawn that is spring, there are still a few cooler weeks left to get stuck into winter fare. Cold-weather cooking is all about warming the house with the enticing aroma of home cooking, and filling the table with hearty goodness that heats from within. From soups to stews to slow roasts and tender cuts of meat, these are the 22 most-clicked recipes from The Weekend Australian Magazine’s autumn-winter culinary collection. So, what did you love cooking? We have collated the results and have the answers here.

1. Elizabeth Hewson’s chicken saltimbocca

This dish holds a special place for me. It was one of the first dishes I made upon moving to Italy for a year, more than 10 years ago. It quickly became a staple in the tiny kitchen.

Chicken saltimbocca. Photo: Nikki To

2. Elizabeth Hewson’s pumpkin pasta bake

Topped with mozzarella and drizzled with burnt butter, sage and capers, this dish promises to give you all the feels of the season.

Golden baked pasta. Photo: Nikki To

3. Sarah Pound’s chicken and sweet corn soup

I really love this soup; my mum has made it all my life and I now make it for my children, who adore it, too.

Chicken and sweet corn soup. Photo: Mark Roper

4. Elizabeth Hewson’s easy one-tray fish bake

Sweet, juicy, end-of-season tomatoes are roasted with capers and vinegar, their juices are soaked up by plump butter beans and firm white fish fillets. It’s a simple, elegant, one-tray recipe.

Fish and tomato bake. Photo: Nikki To

5. Elizabeth Hewson’s chicken wings

Chicken wings require no utensils and should be strictly eaten with your fingers. This is unpretentious dining at its best.

Chicken wings for the win. Photo: Nikki To

6. Nathaniel Smith’s chilli butter salmon bake

Trust me, people try my salmon and they’re left speechless. They’re even more speechless when I tell them exactly how I did it. It’s really that good.

Chilli butter baked salmon. Photo: Steven Joyce

7. Elizabeth Hewson’s big pot of meatballs

This is simple yet satisfying – a testament to the beauty of unpretentious cooking.

Meatballs are always a good idea. Photo: Nikki To

8. Lennox Hastie’s coq au vin

A rich and velvety French stew best served with buttery golden brioche.

Lennox’s classic coq au vin. Photo: Nikki To

9. Sophie Hanson’s roast chicken

The bird’s cavity is stuffed with orange, lemon and bay leaves, and these flavours infuse the chicken as it cooks.

Really, really good roast chicken. Photo: Sophie Hansen

10. Natalie Paull’s perfect lemon tart

I bake this when I have good lemons. Good lemons, to me, are misshapen, bumpy-skinned, aroma-before-appearance fruit from a back yard or organic grocer.

The ultimate meyer lemon tart. Photo: Rochelle Eagle

11. Lennox Hastie’s Greek soup

Forged through hardship from a handful of basic ingredients, this soup is simple, nourishing and utterly comforting.

Greek bean soup. Photo: Nikki To

12. Elizabeth Hewson’s osso buco

It’s the cut of meat that makes this dish feel incredibly luxurious and rich, transforming a simple stew into something fit for nobility.

Osso bucco with golden risoni. Photo: Nikki To

13. Sara Forte’s chicken and parmesan meatballs

Even when my kids are being picky, these meatballs are always an easy sell.

Meatballs with a cheese twist. Photo: Hugh Forte

14. Sarah Pound’s chicken korma pie

The best part about this dish is that you can enjoy it as a beautiful curry or you can go one step further and transform it into an incredible and comforting family pie.

Chicken pie with a twist. Photo: Mark Roper

15. Angela Clutton’s warming seafood stew

Its marriage of fennel and aromatics hits the sweet spot of the fennel flavour spectrum.

Zarzuela (fennel and fish stew). Photo: Patricia Niven.

16. Elizabeth Hewson’s prawn noodles

This was a midweek staple in my mother’s kitchen, quietly ingraining itself into my own recipe repertoire over time.

Prawns, noodles, snap peas Photo: Nikki To

17. Elizabeth Hewson’s lamb stew

A lamb and barley stew might not be trendy, but I’m here to remind you of its enduring appeal.

Lamb and barley stew. Photo: Nikki To

18. Meni Valle’s stuffed pasta shell bake

The sweetness of the peas, together with the ricotta, tomato and freshness of the lemon, is perfect.

Pasta with tomato, cheese and lemon. Photo: Stephanie Stamatis

19. Amber Guiness’s Italian chicken

It really is worth marinating the chicken in the fridge overnight as the flavours will be deep and well developed, yielding the tastiest chicken possible.

Chicken with Italian flavours. Photo: Saghar Setareh

20. Lennox Hastie’s fattoush

A punchy dressing made from olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses and sumac brings it all to life and makes this simple salad something brilliant.

Fattoush salad. Photo: Nikki To

21. Emiko Davies’ pork tonkotsu

A thick pork cutlet, coated in crisp panko crumbs, fried and served with a specially made sauce, tonkatsu is iconic among the best-known Japanese dishes.

Japanese pork chop. Photo: Emiko Davies

22. Elizabeth Hewson’s chicken and chorizo traybake

Here I’ve given chicken thighs a Spanish twist by tossing them in a tray with chorizo, red and yellow peppers, paprika and potatoes. It’s a low-effort, high-impact dish.

Easy and great chicken bake. Photo: Nikki To