freezable meals for endless guests

[marl]

We have 4 sets of weekend (and longer!) guests coming in the next couple of months and I'm worried about last minute cooking panics. A couple of lovely friends have moved abroad and are coming back to visit...and DP's family all live abroad and have decided to descend en masse. I'm thinking I could just cook everything all in one day, freeze it all and then defrost in batches for visitors. Do any of you have any lovely recipes that freeze well - both deserts and dinners? Just to add to my anxiety, they are all vegetarian...There are some threads on meals that freeze on mumsnet from the past but they are mostly practical family things I think rather than Saturday night treat meals with adults (once we've managed to pack all the kids away...) Hoping you can help!

Veg Lasagne? Sorry i only do meat !!

How about something like wild mushroom and chestnut cottage pie?

As for the cooking, could you double up your cooking over a few nights, that way you get sone nice meals and a freezer full too

No good if you don't have the equipment, but I always do raclette or fondue if I have guests over for more than one meal. Failing that take away or mezze type one meal? Salads, falafel, cous cous type meal. And strawberries, meringues and cream for at least one pudding.

Why not make a couple of big meringues, freeze them then you just need to defrost, put some whipped cream on and some berries
Tart au citron also freezes well as does a filo strudel

Great. Thankyou.I didn't know that meringues freeze!

Ps Blondie, do you freeze the filo strudel before cooking it? I'm guessing so...

Pulled pork/beef in the slow cooker (even if you haven't got one, Tesco direct have one for a tenner so well worth investing).

Large pork shoulder (or beef brisket) in pot, add can of full fat coke & jar BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours. I did one on Tues, which we had that evening with wraps/cucumber strips/salad (6 of us), then tonight with mashed pots & veg. One of those dishes people always comment on, but in reality is an absolute doddle as you're not doing loads of prep and it won't spoil if left in the slow cooker whilst you're out/busy.

You can find tons of great slow cooker recipes via google - sausage casseroles, curries etc. The kind of food that you can just serve with some good bread and/or salad with minimum effort. If you want to get ahead, spend an afternoon chopping and you can put the ingredients from each recipe in a freezer bag and store in the freezer, then take it out the night before to defrost, pour contents into slow cooker in the morning and switch on. You get to enjoy time with your guests instead of slaving in the kitchen!

Sorry, ignore my entire post. Just seen the vegetarian bit so my ideas useless. Apologies!

I would do a huge batch of home made thai curry paste and freeze in portions, then all you need to do is fry and add veg and coconut milk. Get some nice sides like veg spring rolls and dips, put them on nice plates and hey presto, Thai banquet. You could also do the same idea for curries. Actually, two or three veggie curries and nan always looks quite impressive I think.

I'd get some soups made and frozen for easy lunches too.

The Ottolenghi books are brilliant for veg, but tend not to be freezable, still worth a look for a mezze type idea.

Thankyou! I've also just found that delia online lists all her puddings that are freezable and how to freeze them, which is pretty useful.

I second the curry paste idea - veg doesn't tend to freeze well. If you do Indian curry pastes you could also make some naan, and dhal does survive the freezer nicely.

Tiramisu freezes like a dream, I just discovered. Defrosted the second half of this one last night, and it was far nicer than the freshly made one.