Informal dinner party ?

Question

I am having 3 girlfriends around for dinner on Wednesday, one friend is now a veggie any ideas for veggie recipies?

(We normally have pasta, salad, curries etc so nothing too fancy please!)

Answer 1

Penne All’Arrabbiata

Ingredients ( Serves 2 )
Penne Pasta - 1/2 pound
Ripe Roma Tomatoes - 1 cup, finely chopped ( Or 10 oz crushed tomatoes - canned Tomato paste - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves, medium size, finely chopped
Red chilli flakes - 1/2 to 1 tsp
Dried Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Fresh Parsley - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep skillet or pot. Add chopped garlic and saute` until fragrant.
Next add red chilli flakes, dried oregano and chilli flakes, saute` for 5 to 10 seconds and then add crushed/chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, salt to taste and mix well.
Simmer over low-medium heat for about 5 to 8 minutes or until the tomato sauce has reduced a little bit.
Add cooked pasta, chopped parsley and toss until mixed well.
Serve hot with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

CANNELLONI FILLED WITH RICOTTA AND SPINACH
(for 2 people)
Ingredients for the filling: 10 cannelloni (pasta tubes), 250 g ricotta, fresh spinach (as much as you like), 3 Tbsp pinenuts, 1 garlic glove, extra-virgin olive oil, salt.
Ingredients for the sauce: 1 can tomato purée, 1/2 small onion, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh basil, salt, chili powder.

Prepare the tomato sauce by cutting onion and put it a pan with some extra-virgin olive oil, cook until soften. Add tomato purée, salt and chili powder and cook for at least 30 minutes. Add some fresh basil at the end.
Clean and wash the spinach, cook them in a pan with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic clove and salt until soften. Mix the spinach with ricotta and pine nuts, add salt and stir well. Take an oven tray, cover the bottom with some extra-virgin olive oil and tomato sauce. Fill cannelloni with the ricotta-spinach filling and put them in the tray, side by side. Cover cannelloni with the rest of the tomato sauce, some oil and grated Parmigiano.

Marrows sformati with tomato salad
("Sformato" is a food cooked within a mould)
Ingredients for 4 people
- 400 g (14 ounces) of courgettes
- 1\2 onion
- 1,5 dl (5 liquid ounces, 10 tablespoon) of béchamel
- 30 g (1 ounce; 1 tablespoon) of grated parmesan cheese
- a sprig of parsley
- 50 g (0,5 liquid ounce; 7 tablespoon) of extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tomatoes
- a few basil leaves
- breadcrumbs
- salt
Chop up the onions. Finely chop the parsley, discarding the stems. Wash and dice the marrows.
Fry the onions and the marrows in a casserole dish with 20 g (1 teaspoon) of oil, add salt and cook slowly for 15 minutes.
Heat the oven to 200° (390°F). Add the béchamel, the scrambled eggs, the parmesan cheese and the parsley to the courgettes. Pour this mixture into 4 oiled crème caramel moulds and add the breadcrumbs.
Cook the sformato in the oven for 25 minutes.
Dice the tomatoes; add the basil, a pinch of salt and some oil. When the sformatini are ready arrange the tomato salad around them



BRUSCHETTA
6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil


1 Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.

2 Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.

3 While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.

5 Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving

Insalata Caprese
12 ounces mozzarella cheese
12 fresh basil leaves
1 pound cored and thinly sliced tomatoes
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

On a platter or individual serving plates, alternate cheese slices, basil leaves and tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle oil on top. Cover and let stand at least 30 minutes before serving. Serves 4 to 6.

Torta di verdure - Assorted vegetable pie -

450 g (1 lb) fresh vegetables
2 tablespoons dried chives
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
8 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
230 g (8 oz) puff pastry
100 g (3 1/2 oz) scamorza cheese, cubed
150 ml (5 fl oz - 1/2 C) light cream
Salt
Pepper, if you like
Preparation times for this recipe can be very different according to the kind of ingredients. If you use fresh vegetables (you can choose among peas, carrots, potatoes, string beans, zucchini, sweet peppers, broccoli, ... but with the same cooking time), you have to consider cleaning, washing and cooking; but you can also use frozen vegetables.
Clean, wash and cut into little pieces vegetables. Put them in a saucepan with oil, aromatic herbs and some water. Season to taste with salt and pepper (if you like) and cook, half-covered, over a gentle flame until tender; add other water only if necessary. Let them cool and then mix with beaten eggs, Parmesan and light cream.
Preheat oven to 200 °C (400°F). Line up a deep oven dish with puff pastry after oiling it. Prick the bottom with a fork and spoon in the mixture of vegetables. Sprinkle with scamorza (or other kneaded paste cheese) and bake for about 30 minutes.
Let the pie rest for some minutes and serve.

La panzanella - Bread Salad
500 grams of bread, preferably whole grain, and a few days old
4 very ripe tomatoes
2 red onions
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of vinegar
Chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

The key to the dish is the soaking of the bread, diced, in cold water for half an hour. Then you wring it out with your hands and crumble it into a big mixing bowl. Then you add the other ingredients, mix, and set it in the fridge for at least two hours.

RICOTTA AND ZUCCHINI MUFFINS
(for 6 muffins)

Ingredients: 100 g white-wheat flour, 100 g Ricotta cheese, 50 g zucchini, 2 Tbsp milk, 50 g butter, 2 tsp dry yeast, 1 egg, 2 Tbsp sugar, fresh basil, 1 pinch of salt.

Preheat oven at 200°C. In a first bowl mix together flour, yeast, fresh basil, salt and sugar. In a second bowl mix melted butter, egg, milk, ricotta and salt, beat well. Very thinly Julienne cut zucchini. Mix now all the ingredients together and stir briefly. Put the mixture into muffin forms and bake in oven at 200°C for about 30 minutes or until golden color.

Tomatoes filled with assorted vegetables - Pomodori ripieni di verdure

4 ripe but firm tomatoes
300 g (10 1/2 oz) assorted, frozen
vegetables
4 tablespoons puréed tomatoes
2 tablespoons dried chives
2 teaspoons dried bay leaves
2 tablespoons dried parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons apple vinegar, if you like
Dry breadcrumbs
Salt

Wash the tomatoes accurately, cut them crossways and scoop out their seeds and part of the flesh with a spoon(you can add this flesh to the vegetable mixture, if you want).
Salt them and turn out on a platter to drip them (at least 30 minutes).
Pour the frozen assorted vegetables into a pan with abundant, salted boiling water.
Bring to the boil again and cook for 10-15 minutes. Drain them very well and put in a little bowl; add the puréed tomatoes, aromatic herbs, vinegar and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Stir and taste; add salt only if necessary. Put the mixture apart.
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and oil a baking pan with the remaining olive oil. Fill the tomatoes with the vegetable mixture, sprinkle with dry breadcrumbs and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve them lukewarm.

Answer 2

Try serving garlic rice with potato curry. You can also serve some stir fried mixed veggies for a change.

POTATO CURRY
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 medium head cauliflower, cut into large florets
5 boiled potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium carrot, cut into slices
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup frozen green peas

In a frying pan, heat the oil. Add the coriander & cummin and stir. Then add turmeric & red-pepper flakes and stir til fragrant. Add the cauliflower, carrot and potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables start to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add the cilantro, the water, and the salt. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cook, covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the peas and the remaining 1/4 cup cilantro and cook, covered, until the peas are tender, about 2 minutes longer.

GARLIC RICE
2 ounces unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, crushed (finely chopped)
2 cups long grain rice
1/2 inch finely chopped ginger
4 cups water
salt & pepper

Heat the butter in a heavy saucepan and add the garlic & ginger. Stir then add the rice.
Cook, stirring constantly, until all the butter has been absorbed, taking care not to let the rice brown.
Add the water, season to taste, cover, bring to the boil then reduce the heat as low as possible.
Cook for 20 to 30 minutes until the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed

Answer 3

Sian that is very kind of you to specially cook your friend a vegetarian meal! I hope you like this one, it's one of my favourites!

Vegetable Satay.
Fry some garlic, 3tsp cinnamon, 3tsp low salt soy sauce, 1 and1/2 tsp garam masala, 3tsp mixed spice in a wok add a little olive oil cook two chopped onions and 5-6 chopped peppers, 3lb mushrooms,pack of bean sprouts, a little sweetcorn and water chestnuts. When cooked add 1/2 a squeezy tube tomato puree 150ml of cold water and 6 tsp of organic peanut butter (the type without any sugar in) - if you are British 'Meridian foods' brand is best. Stir until hot and sauce has thickened sufficiently. Serve over vegan rice noodles.

Answer 4

Do a Quorn and veggie stew - the meat eaters won't be able to tell the difference! Just substitute Chicken for Quorn, add loads of veggies and use veggie stock instead of Chicken. Tastes great and is much healthier too!!

Answer 5

If you normally have pasta and salad, then you have already have been serving vegetarian meals (as long as the pasta had a meatless sauce).

How about a veggie stir fry over rice?

Answer 6

its easy to do a veggie lasagne. You can do any of your favorite pastas, just without meat. Fettucini alfredo with brocolli is good. Curried veggies. Its easy to substitute meat with beans or portabello mushrooms. Have fun!

Answer 7

Well you really dont need to change much, then.
If you want those kind of things have:
curry-replace meat with mushrooms, peppers, or other vegetables.
pasta-have pasta arrabiata (you can buy this sauce in supermarkets) or with a tomato/spicy sauce and cheese.
Salad-replace meat with cheese.

You can have all sorts-jacket potatoes with cheese and baked beans, or egg mayo, etc.

hope that helps

Answer 8

Maybe try halfing some peppers - deseeding them - boiling some rice - then mix the rice with a creamy mushroom thick sauce - placing into the peppers. Roast the peppers for 20mins and serve with some garlic bread - yum:)

Answer 9

How about vegetarian fajitas? They're simple to make and delicious. Just replace the chicken fillets with Quorn fillets, stir fry with some sliced peppers, mushrooms & garlic, and Bob's your uncle.

Enjoy your meal and thanks for being so considerate towards your friend.

Answer 10

pasta, veggie pizza or try some mexican wraps with veggie ones too peppers onions mushrooms....

Answer 11

A mushroom risotto would fit the bill perfectly.