Tasty vegetarian main....help!

[Fuckitydoodah]

I've got friends coming over at the weekend and want to cook something delicious. It needs to be vegetarian.

I really need some inspiration. Please share your delicious vegetarian recipes.

Thanks

This is the recipe from the Napolini Pasta Box.

300g Napolina Rigatoni
2 tablespoons Napolina Light in Colour Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
100g spinach
150g soft goats cheese
50g Parmesan cheese, grated
METHOD
Cook 300g Rigatoni in boiling, salted water until al dente.
Meanwhile chop a clove of garlic and one large onion.
Heat 2 tablespoons light in colour olive oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic, lightly frying for 10 minutes until softened.
Drain the pasta reserving 100ml pasta water.
Add the pasta and the water to the onion and garlic along with 150g goat’s cheese. Mix well for 2 minutes before adding 100g spinach. Stir in until it wilts.
Serve immediately with grated parmesan.

I always recommend this but use butternut squash rather than pumpkin. It’s delicious!

I also cheat and buy pre made puff pastry rather than making that from scratch

http://mildredsrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/10/pumpkin-feta-and-piquillo-pepper-pie.html?m=1

That sounds delicious - I'm going to look up the recipe now

Not risotto.
Not mushrooms, butternut squash, not beetroot and not goat's cheese.

But OPs friends may well like all those things? Most people do. I presume you don't, but I don't think you're invited, so your food preferences aren't really relevant!

Any helpful suggestions instead??

Why not?

I love beetroot and goats cheese. I'd be very happy if I went to dinner with someone and they'd cooked something involving those ingredients.

Are the posters saying they like risotto, mushrooms, butternut squash, beetroot and goat's cheese vegetarians?

Whether or not I like them, it would be nice to have something else. Look at most menus, the vegetarian options are usually those.

Friends usually cook something delicious, for which I am grateful.
If it was me doing the hosting, I'd ask for food preferences the pore over my vast recipe book collection and cook something I could prepare in advance, which pretty much rules out risotto.

I just made chana masala tonight, with fresh spinach and coridander stirred in at the end. So delicious and exceptionally easy. You can have rice, naan, bhajees, poppadoms, samosas, raita, or whatever as sides to make it more dinner party-ish.

We love the Dishoom Jackfruit Biryani, but if it looks too complicated/time consuming, their house black dal is also wonderful: https://amp.theguardian.com/food/2019/sep/07/four-classic-indian-recipes-dishoom-chaat-dal-salad-jackfruit-biyani-chicken-makhani-curry

I'd do a wellington of some kind as I think they always looks special.

I do one with leeks, mushrooms, butternut squash and pine nuts, but obviously you can put in what you want.

Unless you definitely know they like mushrooms don’t include them. The vegetarian and vegan in our family both hate them. Ratatouille is my go to.

@MerryChristmasToYou

They are all my favourite things. Why wouldn't I cook them.

Also the way I cook risotto is a doddle, no stirring (well a few but not constantly)

If they like aubergines - this is delicious

Delia Smith's vegetarian moussaka

Has it occurred to you that the reason these are often on menus is because they are popular and many people like them very much indeed?

I'm sure if any of OPs guests don't like these popular ingredients that OP would know. Personally, I don't eat risotto as I'm diabetic and rice mucks with my blood sugars, but obviously if invited to a dinner party my host would know that!

What actual dishes do you suggest?

There’s an Anna Jones recipe for a filo pie with butternut squash, kale and goats cheese that I’ve cooked for visitors before and it’s always gone down well (with vegetarians and omnivores). My go to sources of inspiration for new things to cook are mainly Anna Jones, Meera Sodha (the New Vegan column in the Guardian) and Yotam Ottolenghi (although his recipes are often more complicated and not always vegetarian).

For the poster saying no beetroot, squash, risotto, goats cheese etc, this vegetarian would be delighted with a beetroot risotto! For me, I think vegetarian lasagne is my “oh no, not again” option but on a restaurant menu rather than at a dinner party. If someone goes to the bother of making vegetarian food for me I’m happy!

Burnt aubergine chilli -yum! It was very popular when I served it at a gathering. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/burnt-aubergine-veggie-chilli

I’d do parmigiana and swap Parmesan for Grana Padano.

or spinach cannelloni with ricotta topped with a red pepper sauce. My cannelloni is thin savoury crepes rather than pasta.

or there’s a fab recipe for a warm baby beetroot tarte which I’ve made and is tasty.

pinchofyum.com/vegetarian-shepherds-pie

This is incredible. Chop the mushrooms finely so they guve the meaty texture. The red wine gravy in thisbis incredibke. Dont skimp on the fresh herbs

Haha I clicked on the post just to say exactly the same as you! I'm a meat eater, but this is my absolute favourite Italian dish, and I always choose this when my favourite Italian restaurant has it as a special. I actually prefer it to a steak, and I bloody love steak 😋

My go-to is tagine. Sweet potato, courgette, carrots in a tomato sauce (use a jar of tagine paste - similar to curry paste) with some garlic, onion, olives and chopped apricots. Serve with parsley on top and couscous. Can be made in advance and then the couscous is cooked at the last minute.

My second favourite vegetarian dish would be mushroom risotto. I use a mixture of dried and fresh mushrooms. I have a massive jar of dried mushrooms that I buy on Amazon just for risotto. I use normal parmesan cheese but you can get vegetarian parmesan. I use at least half a block. My risotto is just delicious, the trick is to use lots of parmesan, don't stir too much (although I've seen recipes where they say to stir a fair bit), and finish with lots of fresh flat leaf parsley. Oh, decent white wine too. Not your best chablis, but not table wine either. A good friend taught me how to make decent risotto, which I'll be forever grateful for!

anna jones does great veg stuff

this is a bit mega …
a fabulous veggie pie https://amp.theguardian.com/food/2021/nov/22/anna-jones-celebration-celeriac-and-sweet-garlic-pie-recipe

If you can ask what your vegetarian guest does or doesn't like, that would help you a lot. I'd be thrilled with mushrooms and butternut squash, but I really don't like goat's cheese. Without knowing what people do and don't like, you have to play safe, which is probably never going to be really delicious by design. The aubergine pie was one of my favourite things I cooked last year, but my husband hates aubergines so it would be a total non-starter for him. Maybe a really petty point, but you are serving a meat dish and a vegetarian dish, I'd try to make them cohesive. When everyone is is eating chicken and mushroom pie, and you have a curry and rice, it does feel a bit of an afterthought.

Ottolenghi's aubergine parmigiana pie was one of the best recipes I made last year. I made it as part of a spread, and some for he meat eaters found it their favourite dish.

The curried cauliflower cheese filo pie is also cracking. Depending on the weather it might feel a bit wintry, but it's a great recipe that it's different enough to be interesting, but still feels like comfort food.

And sticking with the Ottolenghi theme, the confit tandoori chickpeas are amazing, and such low effort. You just put everything in a pot, then make the herb yogurt.

This is Jamie Oliver pie is very nice, although the 30 minute part is a big fib.

He suggests serving with a cucumber and a tomato side which I thought worked well and most of the prep can be done in advance.

hotcooking.co.uk/recipes/jamie-oliver-30-minute-meals-spinach-and-feta-filo-pie/#recipe