Vegetarian dinner party - any ideas?

[TuttiFrutti]

We've invited some friends to dinner and they have just told me they are vegetarians! I'd have no problem cooking basic veggie food, like pasta with tomato sauce, but how do I make it exciting for a dinner party?

There will be 6 of us, 2 veggies and 4 not. Does anyone have any vegetarian main courses which are special enough to be served up at a dinner party?

I suppose I could cook a meat dish (I was going to do a chicken casserole) and just make sure the vegetables are extra-special, but that seems a bit mean if they are our guests. I'd rather do one main dish which we can all eat.

Any ideas???

How's about a roasted vegetable tarte tatin? Fantastic and easy to make - especially if you buy in the pastry!
Baby just filled nappy so need to go do a change and then I'll come back and tell you how to do it. x

A huge mushroom stroganoff with rice and 'posh' salad leaves?

Asparagus risotto?

A quiche or tart with garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes and salad or steamed vege?

Or go Middle Eastern and do cous cous, a chickpea and vegetable tagine, houmuus and pitta, lots of salads etc?

melanzane parmigiana? love this
i serve with either home made chunky chips, or dauphinoise potatoes and salad.

Thanks very much for your ideas - I love the sound of a vegetable tarte tatin and the mushroom stroganoff.

What is melanzane parmigiana? Is it aubergine something?

Now I need to find some recipes...

I have this book which looks good (although I confess to not havign made anythign out of it yet, it looks like it requires a fair bit of effort!) and I'll have a look and see if there's anything in there...

yy - aubergine thing

stuffed butternut squash is dead easy and you can vary the fillings - add bacon or chorizo for meat-eaters, green lentils and/or cheese for the veggies.

Thanks for the aubergine link Charlotte, and thanks for the butternut squash link Plenty.

Northern, that book looks great but I don't really want to buy any new books at the moment - please let me know if there is anything suitable in it.

Tutti - so sorry day has gone mad. Was it for tonight? Is it still relevant to give recipe? Will wait for reply. xxx

Have now managed to hand baby to someone else so can give you recipe! This is all a bit of 'what you fancy' so play with it how you want.

Cut red onion into wedges and then chop aubergine, courgette, pepper and anything else you fancy(!) into a roasting dish with a drizzle of olive oil. If you fancy being posh you can shove in a couple of sprigs of rosemary.

Roast for about 20 minutes. Add some cherry tomatoes and a glug of balsamic vinegar (again, this is optional). If you fancy making individual tarte tatins and have round cake tins (preferably loose bottom) then spread the mixture between however many you want. If you can't be bothered, just do it in a big dish.

Lay our your veg and then take your shop bought puff pastry and place it over the top. It should fit round to the edges of the dish and you should tuck it down snugly around the veg. Put back in the oven for however long it takes for pastry to puff up and brown.

Take out, turn upside down (so veggies are on top) and enjoy!!

Even if you don't make it for the dinner party give it a whirl because it's easy, yummy and looks good!

Thanks NoWittyName, that looks fantastic. I will definitely try it for a family supper next week, but for the dinner party this weekend I have decided to do a mushroom stroganoff with basmati rice and a posh salad. Thanks everyone for all the tips!

enjoy x