Dh has just invited his parents over for dinner tomorrow night assuming as usual they wold be too busy and they blooming said yes!

So any ideas what to cook? It’s so long since I’ve cooked a ‘proper’ dinner as we’ve been living off quick fixes since I was pregnant. We’re veggie, dd is df (but happy to do her a portion without) and they don’t like anything spicy.

Was thinking veggie lasagne but not sure if I can be bothered with the hassle Any other ideas??

I usually do something with pastry - either a spinach, mushroom and ricotta ring wrapped in croissant dough (pampered chef do a recipe with chicken, I just adapted that but use the same very easy tins of dough!!) or a wellington thing with vegetables in puff pastry, or a veg tart with goat’s cheese in shortcrust, or I just discovered a Jamie Oliver recipe for a roasted squash risotto filo tart in filo pastry - it was so lovely we’re going to have it for Christmas Dinner! Risotto is a good one here actually - we eat fish so have prawn and pea risotto, or peppers and courgettes, or mushroom… it’s one meal the children usually eat so we have it a lot for entertaining!

Hth

Claire xx

Leek, squash and goats cheese risotto is my default veggie dinner for guests. xx

Never made risotto before, any recipes? Tips? Sounds good though

Recipe below for squash risotto, which is lovely, especially with sweet potato added with the squash - it’s a bit heavy with just squash. It’s only fiddly because you have to roast the squash first - if you use any other veg instead (we do red pepper, yellow pepper and courgette risotto most often as the children love it!), you just saute the veg with the onion before adding the rice and cook the same way, gradually adding stock. If you eat cheese, it’s lovely stirred through at the end!

Butternut squash and pine nut risotto

lovely but a bit of a pain as you have to keep watching it whilst the rice cooks…  Sooo worth it imo though!
Ingredients

  1 large butternut squash
  2 garlic cloves, peeled
  2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  about 16 sage leaves, chopped
  flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  3 knobs Pure sunflower spread or Sainsbos dairy free spread
  1 large onion, chopped
  400g/14oz arborio or other Italian risotto rice
  2 glasses white wine
  1 litre/1¾ pint vegetable stock
  75g/3oz pinenuts, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Cut the butternut squash into 6-8 wedges, remove the seeds and place in a roasting tray. Pound or chop the garlic and add a generous glug of olive oil, half the sage leaves, sea salt and pepper. Tip into the tray and rub over the butternut squash with your hands. Roast in the oven for 40-50 minutes until softened and becoming golden in colour.
3. Once the squash has cooked, cool slightly, then scrape the soft flesh away from the skin into a bowl. Lightly mash with a fork or potato masher until it is fairly chunky in texture. Scrape any sticky juices left in the roasting tray into the bowl and keep warm while making the risotto.
4. Heat the olive oil and a good knob of spread in a deep, heavy-based frying pan. Gently fry the onion until softened. Add the rice and stir for about a minute until the grains are coated with the oil/spread. Pour in the wine and stir continuously until it has cooked into the rice. Add a good ladle of hot stock and the remaining sage (except a tiny bit for garnish) and season well with salt and pepper. Turn the heat down so the stock is simmering gently. Keep adding ladles of stock as it cooks into the rice, stirring and moving the rice around in the pan. After about 15-20 minutes the rice should be soft but still have a bit of bite left in it. The texture of the risotto should be thick and creamy, but not too loose. Add extra stock if necessary.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir the roasted butternut squash into the risotto with the remaining butter and seasoning to taste. Add any extra stock if the risotto seems particularly thick. Cover with a lid for a couple of minutes as this will give the risotto an even creamier texture.
6. During this time, place the pinenuts in a fairly hot frying pan and toss around until golden. Spoon the risotto into warmed bowls and scatter with the pinenuts and remaining fresh sage.

Squash and leek Risotto.

Peel and cube a squash and roast in the oven with a drizzle of oiluntil a bit carmelised
Slowly cook a couple of leeks and an onion in oil until soft and translucent (about 8 - 10 mins)
add 250g risotto rice (1/2 a packet) -( or you can use pearl barley), and cook for a couple of minutes.
If you have a drop of white or pink wine -( I usually keep the ends of the Sunday dinner bottle for such things as this) then add a splash to the rice and onions
Let this cook in for a minute or so - add herbs of your choice - sage is nice, or rosemary.
Then have a litre of stock made up and keep adding a ladleful at a time, over a low heat, stirring it in and adding more when it has been absorbed.
When you have used half the stock, add your roasted pumpkin, along with any cooking juices.
Keep adding your stock until the rice or barley is cooked, and it still looks a bit soupy. I then stir in quite a lot of grated parmesan at the end, and sprinkle some more on top to serve.

I tend to wait until the end before adding salt, as the parmesan is salty, and I normally use Marigold bouillon powder for the stock, which can also be salty.  If I am using a homemade stock, then i add some salt after the wine stage.

xxx

Great minds, Jacqui xx

Lol - love the pine nut touch. xx

I LOVE pine nuts, I put them in most things with spinach or squash! xx

Wow, thank you so much both of you. Really appreciate all your help, going for the pepper and courgette to make it quicker but am looking formward to trying the squash ones another day-sounds super yummy x

Thank you hungrycaterpillar for this post and thank you Jacqui and fairycakes for risotto receipes, I was a bit cheeky and used them for dinner tonight. Went down well! 

x