If it's so easy to cater for vegetarians what are some great dinner party level dishes?

[timeisnotaline]

I have one - a pumpkin Gorgonzola pie. Back ups are risotto which is slow and needs attention before serving so not perfect. I love veggies (unless I'm in first trimester like now when it makes me ill to think about them) but none of my other veggie meals are what I would call dinner party standard.

'Dinner party' means not 'dig in supper'?

Anything delicious wrapped in pastry is good.
An unusual lasagne.

The last dinner party I went to, I was served half a roasted butternut squash filled with feta and pesto, and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. Was delicious.

Cream cheese mushroom and spinach strudel

Omg I have an awesome veggie dish! Even the meat eaters love it and it looks gorgeous😃👍
Try this link pin.it/LMP0EwS

If that fails look up Moroccan spiced pie on BBC good food site.

The recipe gives you ingredient list/instructions to make your own hummuss. Sod that. Just use a tub of your shop hummus. I always end up using more squash, hummus, nuts etc or changing nut ratio around (more almonds, less pistachios etc) and it incredibly forgiving and flexible. It's good without the Harissa sauce and I have also decorated it with pomegranate seeds to make it look more Christmassy (green pistachio, red pomegranate, dust of icing sugar..) it is fabulous, never fails and is a beautiful centre piece dish 👍

Veggie lasagne is an idea. Or curry.

www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/food/recipes/herb-veggie-plait
www.taste.com.au/recipes/beetroot-spanakopita/055131b9-c9e8-4d87-8ab8-5963b8f33dbc?r=entertaining&c=AEMz9m5P/Vegetarian%20entertaining%20recipes&h=Entertaining
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4540/crispy-greekstyle-pie-
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12804/melty-mushroom-wellingtons
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chestnut-spinach-blue-cheese-en-croute
recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/main-courses/vegetarian-toad-in-the-hole

The River Cottage Veg book is absolutely amazing, there are some real show stoppers in there and I've made several on Christmas day etc as a side for the meat eaters and main for the veggies. It's my go-to veggie cookbook as there are lots of easy recipes and more special occasion ones. This one is amazing and not too faffy either
www.rivercottage.net/recipes/stuffed-cabbage-leaves

If I have even one vegetarian I will make the whole dinner party vegetarian. I’m of an Indian background so don’t have the same difficulty making veg food like some MNetters!

Moroccan spiced pie sounds good sugarplum, I don't want to disappoint you but we would make our own hummus , and beetroot spanakopita sounds good too! I'll go through the other links... I don't love the sound of cream cheese things I'm sorry. I'm also not very good at curries. Occasionally do a basic Thai one but that's about it.

I didn't see the latest posts typing - ravingroo I love the river cottage but I did once years ago cook a stuffed cabbage. The dish itself was delicious I think but the smell of it cooking... my whole house made me want to throw up for a few days after. Did you not find anything like this with that dish?

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Paneer and mushroom curry. Easy to make and very tasty

I don't know what dinner party standard is. F me, I assume nothing about me or my house is dinner party standard. Food would be the least of it.

Satay Noodles.
Creamy mushroom tagliatelle.
Moroccan eggs.
Spinach and feta filo parcels.
Black bean and sweetcorn chilli, served with nachos, soured cream, guacamole and salsa.
mushroom stroganoff
Blue cheese gnocchi bake
Briam.

Save you pumpkins for soup. Get a reasonable size blue pumpkin (they have them in Morrisons at the moment) add lots of cream white wine and seasoning, bake for ages. Stir and the inside of the pumpkin blends with the stuff in it and creates and centre piece starter.

Aim for about six dishes on the table, with a view of each person will like five. I might do gammon, colcannon with eggs in wells, pease pudding plus some green stuff.

If you are uncomfortable cooking veggie and like all plates to look the same, tempeh steaks for the veggies (well marinaded), red cabbage with chestnuts, and red wine gravy that has been thickened with red lentils.

One of the secrets is to sneak protein into several dishes, maybe broccoli with white sauce made with almond milk with toasted flaked almonds on top.

Last time we had people to dinner we did Indian, after they left I realised the meal was not just veggie but was actually vegan.

If you are cooking brassicas, light a candle in the kitchen before you start cooking. The sulphurous fumes burn off easily.

I attended a dinner party a while back where the host served the Moroccan Spiced Pie. Even as a big meat eater, it stood out as a delicious meal!

Vegetables curries and dahl or veggie moussaka.

I second River Cottage Veg as a good start - there is a beetroot tarte tatin that is a real favourite in our house, and I think a roasted squash thing with a yoghurt dressing that looks much more complicated than it is.

I’ve served lentil cottage pie to meat-eating guests and it’s always gone down well. I use puy lentils (you can get them ready cooked in a pouch or tin to save the faff of soaking and boiling them) and pearl barley to give it texture.

Imam bayildi. Stuffed peppers.

Mushroom wellington.

I really dislike risotto.
But love rice.

Not sure what is dinner party level. We're more this is what we have help yourself.
But have a look at samples of vegetarian restaurant menus

I find readyrolled pastry so useful. Either use it as one big sheet or make indvidual tarts.
Slice tomatoes , slice mozzarella, layer onto pastry, bake, add freah basil, serve.
Or spread veggie pesto on base of pastry add tomatoes, mozzarella etc bake.
Chopped tomatoes , cheese ( mix of chedder and edam is nice) bake, top with fresh basil

Yotam Ottilenghi has lots of great recipes. Try this link. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/dec/04/yotam-ottolenghi-recipe-vegetarian-christmas There's a lovely one for an aubergine upside-down 'cake' I'm thinking of trying.

This is an oldie but I love it

oovj.blog/2011/12/13/vegetarian-christmas-brazil-nut-roast-en-croute/

Personally I would avoid lasagne, as it is one of the things that is a staple veggie dish in restaurants, same with risotto.

I have to say though, the Moroccan spiced pie looks amazing, I would be tempted to go with that one.

I know I'm going to be trying it.

Oh mushroom wellington is a good one. I made it for Christmas dinner with garlicky spinach in the pastry with the mushroom. It worked quite well (but I was five months pregnant, boiling and grumpy so that’s rather spoiled the memory!)

Pieminister do some lovely veggie pies
www.pieminister.co.uk