Please can I have some ideas for a nice vegetarian main course and portable pudding?

[NomNomNom]

I've been invite to an evening at a posh friend's house. He usually provides dinner for everyone, but I wanted to bring some kind of cake or biscuits. Small individual things are best as he then doesn't have lots of plates to sort out. It's quite an informal evening with discussions etc.

2. Some friends are coming over to mine for a Christmassy type dinner. Both are vegetarians and one is allergic to fish. What can I cook as a main course that's nice and exciting but doesn't take tons of time or money to prepare?

I'd be massively grateful for any ideas!!

Try a double-crust Christmas Pie. Line a deep pie dish with greaseproof paper (so that you can lift it the whole thing out out easily at the end) short-crust pastry and then fill with generous layers of sliced par-boiled potato, spinach (defrosted and squeezed out), chestnuts, crumbly cheese like Lancashire and fresh cranberries. Season each layer as you go with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg and dot the top with butter before putting on a pastry lid and glazing with egg. Bake quite slowly until done and serve with onion marmalade or cranberry jelly. The colours are lovely when you cut it open.

That sounds yummy and visually appealing as well. Thanks! Not a big fan of spinach, but with lots of cheese it might be ok. Definitely like the idea of a pie!

It's the green stripe you'd miss without the spinach. Contrasts nicely with the red cranberries and natural companion to nutmeg and cheese. Trying to think of something else green you could sub it with. Trouble with a lot of veggie food is that it can be a little 'Planet Beige' if you're not careful :)

Yes, I'm keen to avoid falling into the cheese and mushrooms trap! The green & red is very Christmassy. Might do a practice pie this weekend to use up my vegbox kale.