Alan says: “There’s something deeply autumnal about this comforting recipe. I love the nutty flavour of spelt and when combined with tangy stilton, woody mushrooms and slightly bitter red chicory, you’ve got a match made in heaven.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 heads of red chicory
• 25g unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp light olive oil
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 red onions, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp finely sliced sage
• 250g pearled spelt
• 150ml red wine
• 250g portobello mushrooms, roughly sliced
• 900ml hot vegetable stock
• 60g baby kale or baby spinach
• 100g stilton, crumbled
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Slightly trim the base of the chicory heads and remove any browning outer leaves. Slice the heads lengthways into quarters and set them aside on a plate, cut-side up.

Heat the butter and olive oil in your wide shallow pot. When the butter has melted, brush the cut sides of the chicory with a little of the hot fat and then sprinkle them with the caster sugar. Set aside.

Add the red onion wedges to the pot and cook over a medium heat for five to seven minutes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon until they are soft and slightly browning at the edges. Add the garlic and sage and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the spelt and cook for two more minutes, stirring regularly to toast the grains slightly. Now add the red wine and allow it to sizzle and bubble. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly, until the pot becomes quite dry. Now add the stock with one teaspoon salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and place in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven and arrange the chicory, cutside up, on the spelt. Allow it to sit on top of the grains and mushrooms. Return the pot to the oven, this time uncovered, and cook for another 15 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven. The chicory should have caramelized slightly. Gently mix through the kale or spinach until it begins to wilt, then sprinkle over the stilton, allowing it to melt a little before serving.

From Foolproof One-Pot by Alan Rosenthal (Quadrille, £12.99), out now

Ed says: “This is a gathering of tender, bright green leeks and mouthwatering, flame-coloured chorizo, smothered by a silken blanket of blue-cheese sauce. It is as enjoyably soporific as that sounds. Unusually, I think this cook-separately-and assemble approach trumps a one-dish gratin, as you get to enjoy each of three powerful components at their best and still tasting of themselves; whereas if they’re left to mingle in the oven, they cancel each other out. Also, good though bubbling and burnished cheesy gratins normally are, this feels smooth and clean(ish). It’s best, I think, with some warmed ciabatta and a handful of peppery rocket or watercress, all of which enjoy being dragged through the dregs of blue-cheese sauce and chorizo juices.”

Serves 4–6

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 50g plain flour
• 500ml milk
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 80g stilton, crumbled
• 1/5 nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1kg leeks (trimmed weight), cut into 3–4cm lengths
• 1 tbsp neutral cooking oil
• 300g cooking chorizo, cut into 1cm-thick discs
• Leaves stripped from 5 sprigs thyme
• Flaky sea salt and ground black pepper
• 1 ciabatta loaf, served warm
• 200g rocket, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil

Method

Begin by making the cheese sauce. Place a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. 

Add the butter and allow it to melt gently (if it foams, turn the heat down). Add the flour and stir for two minutes using a wooden spoon or silicon spatula, so the roux begins to slacken and thin but doesn’t colour. Add the milk in four to five stages, stirring until each addition is fully incorporated (and there are no lumps) before adding the next measure. Add the onion, garlic and bay. Cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick and silky and there’s no taste of raw flour.

At this point remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the stilton. Season with nutmeg and just a little pinch of salt.

While the cheese sauce is cooking, boil a full kettle. Put the leeks in a large saucepan, cover with the just-boiled water, and place over a medium–high heat, bringing the water to a simmer. Cook for about 8 minutes until tender but not soggy or dull.

Meanwhile, place a heavy-bottomed sauté or frying pan over a medium heat. Add a splash of cooking oil, followed by the chorizo, and cook for about five minutes so that the oils render from the sausage and the edges brown a little, but the meat remains succulent. When the chorizo is almost done add most of the thyme leaves and cook for one minute more, then turn the heat off and transfer to a serving dish.

The leeks and sauce will both be just about ready by this point. Drain the leeks then add to the chorizo and gently mingle the two. Ladle the cheese sauce over the top, sprinkle with ground black pepper and the remaining thyme leaves, then serve with warmed ciabatta and rocket salad.

From Crave by Ed Smith (Quadrille, £25), out now

James says: “North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent are the main homes of oatcakes. Derbyshire has its version, too, and I’ve also seen Pennine oatcakes on my travels but these are usually made with buttermilk. Whichever type you make, they will all work with simple poached pears and blue cheese. I love them in this salad with honeycomb and walnuts. It makes a great end to a meal (or even a starter).”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 6 small pears, peeled, halved and cored
• 100g caster sugar
• 4 fresh elderflower heads (optional, when in season) or 1 tbsp elderflower cordial

For the pancakes

• 125g medium oatmeal
• 125g wholemeal flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 500ml full-fat milk
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the candied walnuts

• 200g walnut halves
• 100g caster sugar

To serve

• 8 celery hearts and leaves
• 4 fresh elderflower heads (optional, when in season)
• 200g blue stilton, crumbled
• 25g honeycomb

Method

Start by making the pancake batter so it has a chance to rest. Whisk the oatmeal, flour, salt, sugar and milk together in a bowl until smooth. Cover and leave to rest for one hour.

Put the pears, sugar and fresh elderflowers or cordial into a pan and pour in enough water to cover. Pop a lid on and bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

To make the candied walnuts, put the walnuts and sugar into a medium saucepan with 1 tablespoon water and heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Turn the heat up slightly to caramelise the sugar and stir constantly to coat the nuts until they are candied. Tip onto a plate lined with baking parchment or silicone to cool.

Heat a large, flat griddle pan (or use a large, heavy-based frying pan) over a medium heat until hot, drizzle with oil and spoon about a dessertspoonful of the pancake mixture into the pan. Fit as many pancakes as you can in the pan, and cook for one minute until golden. Flip over and cook for a further minute on the other side until light golden. Continue cooking the pancakes until all the batter has been used up.

Put the celery hearts and leaves and elderflowers (if using) into a bowl of iced water to crisp them up. To serve, pop the pancakes onto a platter, top with the pears, crumbled stilton and celery. Scatter over the walnuts, dot with pieces of the honeycomb and finish with the elderflowers.

From James Martin’s Great British Adventure by James Martin (Quadrille, £25), out now