Vegetarian Christmas dinner: recipes, part 1

Salad of roasted peppers

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 large red peppers
• 4 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Halve the peppers lengthways and remove the seeds. Place them skin side up under the grill until the skin turns black.
2. Put the peppers in a plastic bag and close it. After 15 minutes, peel off the skin. Cut the peppers into thin strips.
3. Peel the garlic and slice it thinly. Fry it gently in olive oil until golden. Take care not to burn it. Lift the garlic out of the pan. Then fry the pepper strips very briefly in the same pan.
4. Put the peppers in a dish. Sprinkle with paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Leave for about an hour to let the flavours develop, stirring now and then.
5. Divide the peppers over four plates and garnish with the fried garlic.

Can be made a few hours in advance.

Pepper mousse

Serves 4 to 8

Ingredients

• 150 grams roasted peppers, fresh or from a jar
• 20 grams flaked almonds
• 2 sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small teaspoon Tabasco
• 1 small teaspoon agave syrup or honey
• salt to taste

Method

1. Drain the peppers and purée them.
2. Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan and grind them finely.
3. Chop the tomatoes and blend them briefly with the peppers.
4. Mix all the ingredients and season with salt. Delicious on bread, toast or a strip of focaccia.

Can be made a day in advance.

Focaccia

2 loaves

Ingredients

• 250 ml lukewarm water
• 1 sachet dried yeast (7 grams)
• 500 grams flour
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon olive oil and a little extra for brushing
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 red onion
• 10 pitted black olives
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Method

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Knead in the flour with the rosemary, olive oil, sugar, pepper and salt.
2. Knead the dough for 3 minutes on a floured surface until smooth and no longer sticky.
3. Leave the dough to rise, covered, for 30 minutes until doubled in size.
4. Meanwhile, cut the onion into thin wedges and halve the olives.
5. Knock back the dough. Shape it into two flat rounds about 2.5 cm thick. Place them on baking paper. Press the onion and olives into the dough. Brush with a little olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Leave to rise for another 30 minutes under cling film.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in a preheated fan oven at 200 °C until golden brown and cooked. Cut into thin strips. Serve with the salad, the mousse and the pâté.

Can be made a few hours in advance.

Courgette pâté with tomato sauce

8 slices

Ingredients

• 500 grams courgettes (zucchini)
• 3 eggs
• 100 grams feta
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• freshly ground black pepper and a little salt

Method

1. Grate the courgettes coarsely. Put them in a sieve, sprinkle with a little salt and leave for half an hour. Then squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
2. Beat the eggs and crumble the feta.
3. Mix the eggs, feta and herbs. Stir in the courgette and season with salt and pepper.
4. Line a 26 cm loaf tin with baking paper. Pour in the mixture. Bake for about 45 minutes in a preheated fan oven at 150 °C until golden and firm to the touch.
5. Let the pâté cool a little. Lift it out of the tin with the baking paper and cut it into 8 thick slices. Serve with tomato sauce and a strip of focaccia.

Best served lukewarm.

Vegan: replace the eggs with 6 tablespoons of chickpea flour mixed with 9 tablespoons of water. Use plant-based feta.

Tomato sauce

Enough for one courgette pâté

Ingredients

• ½ red onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tin of peeled tomatoes
• 2 sun-dried tomatoes in oil
• 2 sprigs of fresh basil
• paprika and chilli powder
• salt and pepper
• a little sugar if needed

Method

1. Chop the onion finely. Chop the tinned and sun-dried tomatoes.
2. Fry the onion in a little oil until soft. Crush the garlic over it and fry briefly. Add both kinds of tomato and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat.
3. Let the sauce simmer for at least 15 minutes until fairly thick. Chop the basil.
4. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, paprika, chilli powder and basil. A little sugar makes the sauce less sour.

Can be made a day in advance.

Risotto with roasted pumpkin and walnuts

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 150 grams risotto rice
• 50 grams wild rice
• 200 ml dry white wine
• about 500 ml mushroom or vegetable stock
• 100 grams taleggio (soft Italian cheese)
• 50 grams walnuts
• 500 grams pumpkin, with skin, seeds removed
• a knob of butter or olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. In advance: soak the wild rice for 3 hours in plenty of water. Then cook it in about 45 minutes until just tender.
2. Chop the onion. Heat the butter in a heavy-based pan and fry the onion until soft. Add the risotto rice and stir until the grains turn glassy. Pour in the wine and simmer gently until it has been absorbed.
3. Heat the stock. Add a few spoonfuls of stock each time the liquid has been absorbed. Repeat until the rice is just tender, stirring now and then. Make sure the risotto does not become too wet.
4. Meanwhile, cut the cheese into small pieces. Toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan until golden and chop them roughly.
5. Wash the pumpkin skin well. Cut the pumpkin into cubes of about 3 cm. Roast them with a little oil in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes until golden and tender.
6. Stir the wild rice and the cheese into the risotto. Season with pepper. Serve the risotto on four warm plates, in scoops if you like. Garnish with the pumpkin and walnuts. Serve at once.

Taleggio, good risotto rice and wild rice are sold in most Italian delicatessens.

Vegan: use olive oil and plant-based cheese, or stir 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast into the risotto.

Spinach salad with blue cheese

Side dish for 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 100 grams fresh spinach
• 50 grams lamb's lettuce
• 100 grams peas, frozen if you like
• 50 grams Spanish blue cheese

Dressing

• 7 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
• 3 teaspoons honey or agave syrup
• 2 teaspoons mustard

Method

1. Wash and dry the spinach and lamb's lettuce. Mix them in a bowl.
2. Thaw the peas in cold water. Cut the cheese into tiny pieces. Scatter the peas and cheese over the salad.
3. Mix the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the salad at the last moment.

Can be made a few hours in advance, without the dressing.

Braised young carrots

Side dish for 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of young carrots (about 500 grams)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon agave syrup or honey
• oil
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Clean the carrots. Leave them whole or cut them into thick diagonal pieces. Peel and halve the garlic. Peel and grate the ginger.
2. Heat a little oil in a pan. Fry the carrots for a few minutes over medium heat. Add the garlic and fry briefly.
3. Cover the pan and turn down the heat. Braise the carrots for about 10 minutes until just tender. Shake the pan now and then.
4. At the end, fry the ginger and sesame seeds for a minute. Stir in the syrup or honey and season with salt and pepper. Serve lukewarm.

Can be made a few hours in advance.

Oranges in orange sauce

Dessert for 4

Ingredients

• 4 eating oranges
• 2 juicing oranges
• 75 grams sugar
• 5 fresh mint leaves

Method

1. With a serrated knife, cut the peel and the white pith from the eating oranges. Slice them thinly and divide the slices over four plates.
2. Squeeze the juicing oranges. Boil the juice with the sugar in a heavy-based pan for about 10 minutes until it becomes a syrup. Do not let it turn into caramel.
3. Pour the syrup over the oranges and garnish with a mint leaf.
4. Serve with (plant-based) vanilla ice cream or yoghurt.

You can slice the oranges a few hours in advance. Make the sauce at the last moment.