Vegetarian main course for a crowd

[BelligerentGhoul]

Cooking for nine people next weekend, one of whom is a v fussy, non-veggie, 11 year old (not mine!). Any ideas for something lovely that I could cook that will keep everybody happy?

Would prefer it to be entirely veggie. No mushrooms, not curry (shame - as that would be so easy) and no tinned tomatoes!

A huge pie might be nice but I have no idea what to put in it, or something else that could perhaps be served with roast or baked potatoes and vege.

I will probably do crumble and custard for pudding.

Think family 'supper' rather than dinner party style.

Thanks!

what about onion tart tatan (sp)? Balsamic and thyme are good in it, feta, goats chz or something else crumbled on toward the end?

or parmagiana melanzane?

I would do a few posh tarts ( no jokes purleez )

Sarah Raven has some great recipes for these such as:

• Spinach, sorrel and gruyere
• Pea and ricotta with thyme pastry
• Leek and goats cheese
• Courgette souffle tart
• Stilton and celery
• Red onion, parmesan and rosemary
• Moroccan spiced courgette and goats cheese
• Tomato tarte tatin
• Spring onion tart

I've done a fair few of them and they are really, really good.

Please may I come? It sounds lovely.

............or there is an amazing Very Full Tart in Ottolenghi's new book, can post recipe if you like, done that too, its amazing and good for an occasion as there are a fair few ingreds so not that cheap, unless you have a burgeoning veg patch/allotment.....

ooh, his roast garlic tart is amazing too, though you'd need more than one, and each requires peeling 20 garlic cloves. But worth it.

Ooh posh tarts sound a v good idea! The main probkem there is cheese-hating dd1, although she will tolerate a bit of cheddar/parmesan nowadays.

Red onion, parmesan and rosemary sounds especially good and dp has grown a huge pot of rosemary from seed, which only ever gets used with potatoes at the mo! is it basically a flat piece of puff pastry, plus caramelised red onions and cheese and rosemary, baked?

Googling roast garlic tart now!

Not puff, shortcrust. Can post a shortcrust recipe if you need:

Serves 6-8
1 quantity shortcrust pastry
30g butter
2 tbspns light olive oil
3-4 large red onions, finely chopped
1 tbspn finely chopped rosemary
3 eggs
1 x 284ml carton creme fraiche or double cream
150g freshly grated Parmesan
Black pepper

Preheat oven 180c/Gas 4 and preheat baking sheet. Roll out pastry and make a pastry case.

Put butter ans oil in pan and fry onions vair slowly for 30 mins, then add rosemary at end.

Beat eggs with creme fraiche and all but 2 tbspns parmesan.

Spoon onions into tart case and pour over cheese/egg mix.

Sprinkle remaining Parmesan and black pepper over the top and bake for 30-35 mins until cooked and set in the middle.

Good served warm with a peppery leaved green salad.

Ahh - tis more a quiche than a tart, then, non? Sounds lovely.

No need for a shortcrust recipe, thanks. Am old enough to have done Domestic Science at school instead of this new-fangled Food Technology rubbish! :)

I thought tart was the 21st century term for quiche.

i was rather, shall we say, creative, with the recipie, substituting what ever it says with the cheeses i had (feta, parmesan and smoked poacher iirc). And i used natural yoghurt instead of whatever dairy he says. And i think slightly differant stuff when caramelising the garlic. And whatever herbs we had...and good made shortcrust rather than puff. All just cause i didn't want to go to the shop. And it still worked wonderfully. I can post recipie if you can't find it.

I don't mean that rudely, btw. Just that none of the recipe books I have bought the past 5 years mention quiche, they all call it tart.

oh, the ottolenghi garlic one is quiche -esqu too. But shallots or onions in a tart tatain are lovely.

Found it Monnface - looks lovely but a bit fiddly.

Taffeta - it didn't come across as at all rude! I have obviously missed the whole quiche-renaming business. I thought tarts were flat and quiches had sides.

I am sure there is some dreadfully un pc joke I could make about real men, quiche and tarts but I wouldn't dream of going there....

A few more ideas:

• Beetroot tart with horseradish cream
• Vegetable pakoras/onion bhajis with pomegranite raita
• Calzone type thing?

is a bit, could do alot in advance, make pastry, caramelise garlic, etc but would need more than one for nine people if they are any where near as greedy as me. Just looked at the cranks one and it's fiddley too.

Have never made pakoras or bahjis as am a bit frightened of deep frying. Do you have a t&t recipe?

Not tried and tested by me, I'm afraid. Although I did go on an Indian Cookery morning last year and saw some bhajis being cooked - the secret is in the gram flour.

Thanks anyway.

Think I will go the way of the tart or the baked potatoes with lots of toppings option.

you could stuff the baked spuds...pull the middles out and mash with stuff then put back in the oven. Cheese and leek, lemon garlic and olive oil...broccoli and blue cheese...chili, tom and something, there must be others. Bajis are easy and lovely but need to be made fresh so involve getting sweaty over the stove while guests await.

Home made pizza?

oh yy mfm to stuffed jackets very good with pesto, paremsan, creme fraiche and garlic. Mmmmm

Lovely idea to stuff the spuds. I especially like leek and mature cheddar in mine. Mmmmmm.

Homemade pizzas could be good - but then I'd have to batch cook them as don't have a huge amount of oven space.

In fact, baked potatoes, a couple of pizzas or tarts, a huge bowl of salad and one of homemade coleslaw might well be a contender.

I came on here earlier in the year as I was doing a buffet for 15, half of whom were veggies. I got recommended a fabulous Ottolenghi recipe from the Guardian, ricotta tart. It was delicious, even the non-cheese liking child we had enjoyed it as the cheese is more for texture than flavour. Everyone was impressed, and I could make it the day before. It was a bit fiddly but totally worth it.
I served with a couscous salad (Jamie Oliver does a lovely herby one, can make ahead) and a pasta salad for my v v fussy DD who basically only eats pasta.

Good luck!

pizzas only take a few minutes in a really hot oven. More spud fillings...Garlic creamy mushrooms...oh, just one actually

PS do you run a Manchester school? Loving the name...