Courgette (Zucchini) and Basil Risotto

It's been a long time since I've cooked a proper risotto, as I never buy risotto rice and usually substitute for normal rice (which gives a very different consistency). I came across this recipe in one of my many vegetarian cookbooks and felt like giving it a try. I was worried about the difficulty of making risotto and of having to stir it constantly for 20 minutes, but I found this wasn't necessary and I simply stirred it every few minutes whilst doing other things in the kitchen, and the consistency turned out lovely and creamy. The recipe itself called for dry vermouth, but I didn't have any vermouth or dry white wine (which you could substitute for) so I used half the amount in gin and it turned out well.

Chilli Broccoli Pasta

A recipe from one of my more underused vegetarian cookbooks (I have so many you see, that I tend to forget about some from time to time!) called 'The Vegetarian Bible'. It's a great little cookbook that has  some interesting recipes. I used frozen broccoli in this rather than fresh, as it's more convenient. I also added cheese but this is not necessary at all if you want to watch the calories or are vegan.

Pumpkin, Asparagus and Leek Quiche

Another sunny weekend, another quiche recipe. This was one I threw together based on what vegetables I found for sale in my local shops and what I felt would go well together. It was lovely. I found the pumpkin in an Asian food store on the campus where I work, and I believe it is known as 'Japanese Pumpkin' or Kabocha. You can substitute for any type of pumpkin or squash (or sweet potato if you like). I also put some mustard into the egg filling for a change, though this is optional.

Raspberry Cupcakes

Another recipe adapted from a Cook Veg recipe, these cupcakes are gorgeous. The raspberries are quite tart so I suggest a sweet topping; I put whipped cream on some, whilst on others I did a basic chocolate ganache (see here for an example recipe), but you could also do a sweet cream cheese topping if you like (as in the original recipe).

Lemon and Balsamic Roasted Carrots, Goats Cheese and Thyme Quiche

This recipe is a modified version of this one I found on the brilliant Cook Vegetarian website. If you haven't ever seen the Cook Veg website I'd strongly recommend it as it has lots of interesting and unusual recipes. You can create an account and favourite recipes you like the look of for later use; I've been revisiting my 'plan to cook' saved recipe from the site recently, so expect a few appearing on this blog in the near future. This quiche was lovely and quite unusual, and it was also great cold. The goats cheese flavour is very strong in this recipe, so if you'd rather tone it down a bit, you could substitute half for cheddar or other flavoured cheese.

Most of the changes I made to this recipe were quantity based as they were all wrong (in my opinion) on the original website. I also added balsamic vinegar on a whim, and used double cream. I've put instructions for making the pastry from scratch, but if you don't have the time/inclination, just buy ready made shortcrust pastry.

Cottage Cheese and Chive Pie

This is an old readers digest recipe; I got it from my boyfriends mother years and years ago (pre-vegetarian) after eating it at his parents house one weekend. It's essentially a cheese and onion pie, but using cottage and cheddar cheese alongside onions and chives. Fresh chives work really well if you have them; we used to grow chives in the garden of our old house but since moving, I've had to rely on dried chives and it works just fine. I tried to make things easier by using pre-rolled puff pastry, but it was the wrong shape and I had to roll it out anyway, so you may as well just buy the block puff pastry which is often a bit cheaper.

 

Leek and Cannellini Bean Soup

This is a light, simple and tasty soup, perfect for the spring weather (which has unfortunately yet to arrive in the UK yet). It's a relatively hassle free recipe which takes very little effort. This is another Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe which I've adjusted slightly - he used fresh herbs but I substituted dried, and he also suggested using chilli oil, but since I didn't have any, I just used olive oil instead.