Veggie dinner party and don't know what to cook!

[Blackbird1234]

I'm having some friends over for a meal on Wednesday evening and I'm looking for a recipe that fits into the below:

• Needs to be vegetarian
• Needs to be something that I don't need to be running back and forth to the kitchen for. Happy to cook something earlier and just keep it warm, but just want to avoid having to leave the room every 5 minutes.
• Doesn't need to be anything fancy or difficult.
• I make curry all the time and want to try something new, so preferably not that.

If it makes any difference, I'm in France so can't necessarily get loads of UK specified ingredients and things like veggie shepherds pie etc aren't what I'm going for.

Thank you to anyone who has ideas!

This is a real crowd pleaser, so easy and fuss free. It also tastes delicious. A bit of a twist on the usual veggie lasagne:

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/pasta-recipes/spinach-and-ricotta-lasagne-with-pine-nuts

@GoGoGretaDoll

www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/diana-henrys-butter-roast-aubergines/

This is gorgeous and just sits in the oven. If you can't get freekeh you can use quinoa but to be honest I usually just get one of those supermarket packets of pre-cooked mixed grains.

The sauce is great - no worries about missing out birds of paradise or ajwain, I've never been able to find either and it's still lovely.

Thanks for this recipe- it looks amazing, I’m going to try this as I love aubergines.

Pleased to hear that the birds of paradise aren’t essential! 😄

I made this for a veggie dinner party. It's really good, and the elements can be made in advance and kept warm, or reheated, and then just assembled at the last minute. It's not hard, but looks impressive!

www.ocado.com/webshop/recipe/Celeriac-Steaks-Miso-Mushrooms-Bean-Mash-and-Herb-Oil/201758?selectedCategories

I'd be tempted to make tartiflette, but swap out the lardons for mushrooms. Really simple, really fattening, but a real crowd pleaser.

I miss reblochon, it's so damn expensive in the UK.

I've made this spinach and feta filo pie a couple of times for veggie meals and it goes down well. Easy to make, delicious, looks quite impressive. If only my kids would eat it, we'd have it all the time:

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cheese-recipes/spinach-feta-filo-pie/

Slow roasted tomato tarte tatin - fantastic. I do the Anna Jones one but there are lots of recipes around.

Jamie Oliver veggie chilli with roast sweet potato chunks is fab with guac and sour cream.

smittenkitchen.com/2019/08/black-pepper-tofu-and-eggplant/

This is excellent and unique and should be easy to source the ingredients. Be aware that the soy sauce makes it plenty salty so no additional salt is needed! I would do that with a green salad, some white rice, and a pie that I made the day before for dessert with some ice cream.

Aubergine parmigiana for the main course, serve with really fresh green salad with homemade punchy dressing.& loads of gorgeous crusty bread. My dh would thank you for a bowl of rosemary & garlic roasted wedges/ potatoes on the side.

BBC good food best chocolate brownies served with fresh berries & cream

Or rosewater & pistachio marshmallow centre meringues- really impressive when served on a big platter. Cream, & berries on the side

Puff pastry walnut, pear & mild blue cheese open tarts to start

Cheese board before dessert

Loads of amazing wine

If you're in France I'd suggest a North African menu. The supermarkets are bound to have everything you need. Tagine, carrot salad, flat breads, couscous, dips etc.

@theworldsastage

I'd be tempted to make tartiflette, but swap out the lardons for mushrooms. Really simple, really fattening, but a real crowd pleaser.

I miss reblochon, it's so damn expensive in the UK.

DH and I have often wondered who else is buying the roblochon our Sainsburys so reliably keeps in stock. Must be you 🤣

Unfortunately it's not vegetarian. But I choose to ignore the vegetarian cheese issue and make it by replacing the lardons with peas, spinach and a very healthy dose of salt. I justify the price by reminding myself that a takeaway costs more.

I'd suggest looking at Anna Jones recipes. She vegan, mostly any way. Lots of inspiration. Or look to India food which does vegetarianism beautifully.

I don't like meat (though I'm not strictly a vegetarian) my favourite dish is a spinach and ricotta lasagna, fresh salad and crusty bread if at a dinner party at other people's houses. Easy to get right and delicious.

You could make it the day before and just bung it in the oven for half an 40mins while guest are there.

Update in case anyone is interested and wants a great recipe - I made a veggie lasagne and it was genuinely the best one I've ever made!

I used fresh lasagne sheets. For the tomato sauce I made one that I saw on mumsnet years ago (1 tin of tomatoes, 75g of salted butter and an onion chopped in half then removed at the end - I doubled all of this) then added mushrooms and courgettes, and for the cheese sauce I just got some ricotta and mixed in some freshly chopped basil and "ciboulette" (not sure what it's called in English!), then as I had it in the fridge, I topped it all off with a bit of cream on the very top and grated comté cheese - amazing!!

Overall, so much less hassle than my usual recipe and 5 times as nice! Thank you all for your recommendations, I've written them all down for my weekly shop