This recipe is made in collaboration with the Vegetarian Society. If you read my blog often, you’ll know that we’re by no means vegetarian, and in all honesty meat or fish tends to be the default starting point when we’re planning meals. I recognised this a year or two ago, and have since been making efforts to get more meat-free meals into our diet. Chris is the hardest one to persuade in this area, and a veggie meal has to be something really special like to get past him without complaint! I’ve had a fair few failures, but also some big successes (those cheesy veggie chickpea burgers and the spicy Kway Teow have become regulars on the menu!).
When the Vegetarian Society approached me about working on some Christmas dinner ideas, I was totally up for the challenge! I love that their message isn’t about turning everybody into a vegetarian, but rather educating people that it is possible to eat a meat-free or reduced-meat diet, without feeling like you’re missing out. Not only for the obvious animal welfare side of things, but also for our own health. So if you’re new to being a vegetarian, or a trying to reduce your meat consumption I’d love to give you some ideas of recipes that have passed the Chris test (i.e there was no request for a bit of bacon on the side :-)). Although I’ve never cooked a full vegetarian Christmas dinner, I have made veggie roast dinners, or celebration meals with vegetarian guests. I always like to look on this as a bit of a fun challenge, and to make sure I create something that replaces the meat element - in terms of protein - instead of a combination of side dishes! I would be gutted to have to make do with the side dishes with no ‘main event’ for my Christmas dinner. These mushroom and Wenslydale rostis do just that. Serve them up for your veggie guests, and I guarantee everyone else will be eyeing them up too!
A crispy base, stuffed with creamy, cheesy mushrooms, chestnuts and cranberries! Personally I think these work as a ‘main event’ part of the meal, that will still go well with all the lovely side dishes on the table. If you are making Christmas dinner for both meat-eaters and vegetarians, here are a couple of extra pointers to bear in mind:
Roasties: Everyone loves the roasties!! But you can’t serve them up to vegetarians if they’ve been roasted in dripping/lard/goose fat. I put a small tin in the oven for the vegetarian roasties and roast them in vegetable oil (any high-smoke point, neutral-flavour oil will be fine). Stuffing: Quite often, if you’re making your own, it can contain sausage meat. If you’re happy to make an extra stuffing recipe while you’re at it, make a veggie version (Becca from Amuse You Bouche does a lovely mushroom and chestnut version that could be served to everyone). Gravy - of course this is traditionally made with the meat juices from your turkey. It’s so simple to make a luxurious veggie gravy - this is one you can do in advance and reheat right before serving. Go for a nice onion gravy with slow-cooked, caramelised onions, or try this version with cranberry sauce and red wine!!
Are you a cooking a vegetarian Christmas dinner this year? If you have any other pointers or ‘main event’ ideas, I’d love to know! Check out more Christmas recipe ideas from the Vegetarian Society here.
The Parsnip and Carrot Rostis with Mushrooms and Wensleydale Sauce Recipe:
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