Can you help me plan a vegetarian main course for 8 - needs to be no hassle though.

[Cadbury]

It's dh's birthday soon and we've got folk coming over for a dinner party - want to make it more simple than my usual grand efforts as I will be 8 and a half months pregnant by then. So my only problem (well, not really a problem, but a thinking point) is that one of the guests is vegetarian.

I'd rather not do something different just for one person so want something everyone will enjoy without feeling they've been cheated out of a meat course.

Have planned to do ciabatta and warm oil and balsamic vinegar or humous and crudite to start with and dh has put in a request for a pain au chocolat bread and butter pudding a la Nigella for pud.

So, master chefs, what do I do for the main course. Over to you.

Nigel Slater's mushroom and spinach korma? We had it with some Chablis and it was VERY nice.

Or, hang on, will look for vegetarian crown recipe, is also nice.

This recipe is a good example of how garlic is used as a backnote to other aromatics and spices. This is a voluptuous vegetable supper, and less trouble than it might at first appear. Serves 2-3

50g butter
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
a knob of ginger, about the size of your thumb, peeled and grated
a teaspoon of ground cumin
15 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon chilli powder
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
650g assorted mushrooms
50g shelled hazelnuts, toasted
350g leaf spinach, tough stems removed
50g golden sultanas
150g thick natural yoghurt
150g crème fraiche
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

Melt the butter in a deep pan, add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook for about five minutes, until golden. It is essential not to burn the butter, so add a little oil if it appears to be darkening. Add the spices and bay leaves and continue frying, stirring regularly, for two or three minutes to cook the spices. Meanwhile, cut the larger mushrooms into big pieces, though you can leave oyster mushrooms whole. Add the mushrooms to the pot. Cook the mixture for a few minutes till the mushrooms soften, then stir in 225ml water and the hazelnuts. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for fifteen minutes, covered with a lid. Meanwhile, wash the spinach and put, still thoroughly wet, into a saucepan - it will cook in its own steam. Cook for two minutes, shaking occasionally, till wilted. Drain and squeeze out the water. Stir the spinach and sultanas into the curry, simmer for a couple of minutes, then mix the yoghurt and crème fraiche together and stir them into the mushrooms, bringing almost to the boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When the korma is thoroughly hot, but not quite boiling (it may curdle if it boils), stir in the chopped coriander and serve.

Or this vegetarian crown recipe is from a Red Christmas special, I made it for exdh for Christmas day one year. It is very nice and quite dinner party ish I think. I can't remember at all what it was like to make but I did have to go and buy a savarin tin! Although you could use something else you wouldn't get the visual effect of the chutney piled in the middle.

While you can use regular butter beans for this recipe, Tormesina Judion butter beans (£5.99, Sainsbury's) are exceptionally rich and creamy. Although they do need to be soaked overnight and simmered for 2 hours, it's definitely worth the effort. But if you really haven't the time, use tinned beans. I also love Fruttibosca bottled baby artichoke hearts (£4.90, Sainsbury's) Serves 6.

500g raw, small beetroot
oil, for greasing
200g goat's Cheddar (or cow's Cheddar), grated
75g pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
olive oil, for drizzling
250g presoaked and cooked Tormesina Judion butter beans
1 x 280g jar baby artichoke hearts
100g creamy soft goat's cheese
1 egg
sea salt and freshly ground chopped chives, to garnish

for the walnut chutney: 4 red onions, olive oil, for drizzling,
75g brown sugar, 400g cherry tomatoes, 1 cooking apple
390g pickled walnuts, drained and roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 190°CI 375°F/gas mark 5. Place the beetroot in a saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 45 minutes. Drain, allow to cool a little and peel by squeezing gently - the skins will slip off. Place to one side. While the beetroot is cooking, grease a 24-cm non-stick savarin tin. Sprinkle half the Cheddar into the tin. In a small pan, cook the pine nuts and garlic over a low heat in a drizzle of olive oil until golden. Combine the mixture with the butter beans, artichoke hearts, soft goat's cheese, remaining Cheddar, egg and salt and pepper. Spoon into the tin and even the surface. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and carefully invert on to an ovenproof dish. Pile the cooked beetroot in the middle, drizzle with a little more oil and season. Return to the oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the walnut chutney. Slice the red onions and cook with the sugar and a little olive oil for 15 minutes over a low heat. The onions will become soft and rich in texture. Halve the tomatoes, peel and chop the apple and add to the onion mixture with the walnuts. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the apple softened. Carefully remove the crown from the oven, garnish with the chopped chives and serve with the walnut chutney while still warm.

Or you could do Thai green/red curry with vegetables instead of meat?

Hang on.

This is Nigel Slater's Thai green curry recipe

The lime leaves are available in cute little packets from good supermarkets and in bunches from oriental grocers. They are essential here. I have found nothing else that.will give the unique tart freshness they contribute. A beautiful, highly fragrant supper. For 2, with rice.

350 g / 12 oz boned chicken breast
350 ml/12 fl oz coconut milk
15 ml/1 tablespoon groundnut oil
30ml/2 tablespoons Thai Green Curry Paste (see below)
8 kaffir lime leaves
45ml3 tablespoons basil leaves, shredded

Cut the chicken into large bite-sized pieces. Gently bring the coconut milk to near boiling, but do not let it do so. In a shallow sided pan, fry the chicken pieces in the oil till golden, about 2 minutes over a high heat Stir the curry paste into the coconut milk, add salt and the lime leaves. Pour the warm, spiced coconut milk over the chicken and simmer, very gently, for 12 minutes. Scatter over the shredded basil leaves. Their peppery scent will rise immediately.

Thai Green Curry Paste
I love green curries, especially the ones scented with basil or coriander, but have always avoided making them as I thought the green curry paste would be time consuming and the ingredients impossible to find. Wrong. It actually takes all of 10 minutes (and 9 of those are peeling the lime, and chopping the garlic, ginger and shallot) to make this lively, hot, versatile paste. There is one, and only one, ingredient in this hot, fresh-tasting mix that you will not find in a decent supermarket: galangal. This knobbly, pinkish tuber looks like a cross between a ginger root and the flag irises in my garden. Its gingery, peppery, lemon flavour is hard to simulate, but Thai friends assure me it is not the end of the world if you miss it out. Their trick in desperate moments is to add ginger and a little lime juice instead. If you are passing, it is available in (or usually outside) oriental greengrocers, where it can also he bought dried. Occasionally I have seen it at branches of one of the major supermarkets.

6 medium hot green chilli peppers, about 2 inches long, seeded and chopped
2 stalks of lemon grass, chopped
30ml/2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (and its root if possible)
5ml/1 teaspoon ground cumin
2.5 cm/1 in knob fresh ginger, peeled and chopped (get galangal if you can)
2 shallots, finely chopped
5ml/1 teaspoon coriander seeds
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
5 ml/ 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
5 ml/1 teaspoon chopped lime zest
15 ml/1 teaspoon lime juice
Whizz to a paste in a blender, adding a little more lime juice if it sticks. This will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

You could make the vegetarian crown thing in advance too.

what about a rissoto -
kinda like this

not too much work, but can be quite impressive

or
vegetable terrine

Does this veggie eat fish? (I know that doesn't really make them veggie but some do and still call themselves veggies)

I like the look of that mushroom and spinach korma WWW - thank you.

Oh wow - great ideas. Thankyou very much. I like Nigel Slater's recipes.

I don't recall if she eats fish but I'd guess not.

really like the risotto recipe - dh is a big fan of risotto. Hope the others like it. Thanks.

Any other suggestions?

Dead easy one which can be made a day in advance (add topping on the day) and then shoved in the oven...

GARLIC BREAD TOPPED RAGOUT

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 sticks celery, chopped
1-2 fresh red chillies, deseeded & chopped
1 large potato, diced
225g/8oz sweet potato, diced
1 red pepper, deseeded & diced
2 carrots, diced
1 tsp. dried mixed herbs
2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
300ml/½ pint red wine
400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
300ml/½ pint veg stock
400g/14oz can cannellini beans, drained
400g/14oz can butter beans, drained
2 tbsp. red pesto
seasoning

Topping: (alternatively, buy a packet of garlic bread!)
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small baguette, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Heat the oil in a large heatproof casserole dish & cook the onion, garlic, celery & chillies for 7-10 minutes until tender. Stir in the potato, sweet potato, pepper, carrots, thyme & herbs. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring to mix well.

1. Pour in the red wine & bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes then stir in the tomatoes & season well. Simmer until the potato is just cooked, then stir in the beans & red pesto. Remove from heat.

1. To make the topping, mix together the oil, parsley & garlic & brush over slices of bread. Arrange the bread rounds on top of the casserole, cover with foil & bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil & bake for a further 15 minutes until bread is golden.

Oooo Clayhead - that sounds yummy. How many do you think that would feed?

At least 6, I have done it with some crunchy green veg (beans, broccoli etc) and I think it feeds 8 then (I may have upped quantities slightly for that, can't remember )

that's great - I love the idea of making most of it in advance and finishing it off on the day - will make things easier.

Clayhead, have you ever frozen that recipe? I thought it might freeze without the topping.

Cheese, onion and tomto pasta bake with garlic bread and salsd.

it would be lovely, I bet

I haven't frozen it but I would see no reason not to.