9 vegetarian recipes that are so delicious you might actually want to turn vegetarian (2024)

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

What you need:

• 500 g beetroot
• 1 tbsp balsamic glaze
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt
• 50 g goat's cheese, crumbled
• 2-3 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

What you need to do:

Trim the beetroot leaves and wash them but do not peel as beetroot tends to bleed when boiled and keeping the skins on reduces bleeding.

Put them in a pot and cover with water, boil them for 30 minutes for small beetroot.

Test the doneness by piercing with a knife, the same way you would do with potatoes.

Peel them as warm as your hands can take it and quarter.

Toss with olive oil, balsamic glaze and sprinkle with sea salt while still warm.

Scatter crumbled goat's cheese and parsley before serving.

Serve warm or cold.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 60 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

What you need:

• ●400g 00 grade flour (that's just your everyday flour)
• ●4 large free range eggs
• ●1 lemon (zest and juice only)
• ●5-6 tbsp olive oil
• ●1 garlic clove
• ●55g grated parmesan
• ●2 bunches of basil
• ●100g pine nuts
• ●3 artichoke hearts (canned)
• ●salt & pepper
• ●extra flour for dusting

What you need to do:

Start by making your pasta dough as it will need to rest for at least 30 minutes. Combine the 00 grade flour with salt and the eggs in a food processor. Blitz until the dough has started to come together. If the mixture is too dry and floury add a tspn of olive oil at a time until you achieve the correct consistency.

Remove the dough from the food processor and onto a floured surface. Knead the dough to develop the gluten and to ensure all the ingredients have combined thoroughly. Wrap in Clingfilm and store in your fridge for half an hour minimum.

Combine all the remaining ingredients in a food processor to create the artichoke pesto. You may need to adjust the consistency of the pesto by adding or reducing the amount of olive oil. Season and add lemon juice to taste. Store in an airtight container until required.

When your pasta has been well rested cut into 4 portions and roll each out slightly to help it fit through the pasta machine. Roll the pasta out nice and thin until you can just about see your hand through it.

If you have the cutting attachment on your pasta machine use this to form tagliatelle. If not you can opt to hand cut pappardelle. To prevent your pasta sticking together sprinkle with a little flour.

Bring seasoned water to the boil in a saucepan, add your pasta and cook out for 1-2 minutes. Testing that the pasta is the right texture and consistency. Drain the pasta and lightly drizzle with olive oil to prevent the strands from sticking. Set aside.

Heat a grill pan and add olive oil. Place the artichoke hearts onto the grill carefully. Heat through turning only the once to achieve perfect grill marks on each side. Remove off the heat until ready for use.

You are now ready to assemble your dish. In a saucepan add your tagliatelle followed by two tablespoons of your artichoke pesto. You will just be warming the dish through, so quickly, but carefully, ensure the pesto coats the pasta well.

Serve in a bowl, garnish with three grilled artichoke hearts per portion, grated parmesan, a glug of olive oil and basil.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 35 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

What you need:

• ●4-5 parsnips
• ●4 eggs
• ●100g clarified butter
• ●400g spinach
• ●½ medium hot chilli
• ●½ tsp ginger
• ●½ tsp grated nutmeg
• ●1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• ●Salt & pepper

What you need to do:

Peel the parsnips then grate the parsnips into a bowl, add finely chopped ginger and chilli and clarified butter. Thoroughly combine and set aside whilst preparing the other ingredients.

In a saucepan, wilt the spinach in some butter then add grated nutmeg and season. Leave aside until ready to serve.

In a small pan create 3-4 inch shaped circles out of the grated parsnips and fry until golden on both sides. This should take 2-3 minutes on each side. If you are unsure, test one if it is fully cooked through then remove from the heat and drain the oil off before keeping warm in the oven

In a saucepan boil water with vinegar. Crack one egg at a time into the water and poach until soft and the yolk is still runny on the inside.

You are ready to serve assemble by placing the parsnip hash brown at the bottom of a plate, top with wilted spinach, your soft poached egg and micro herbs.

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 30 mins (including batter resting time)

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

What you need:

The Socca (that's the pancakes)

• 130g gram/chickpea flour
• 260ml room temperature water
• 1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ tsp salt

The Rest

• 16 spears of thin asparagus, snapped where it naturally wants to break
• Handful of radishes, trimmed and sliced into fours rounds or so (i.e. not too thin)
• 3-4 spring onions, roots and uppermost greens removed
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided use
• Half of a small courgette, julienned or spiralised
• 2 eggs, optional (a very filling addition)

What you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 200C/180F.

First of all make the socca batter by dry whisking the gram flour to remove any lumps, then whisking in the oil, salt and half of the water. When this is smooth, whisk in the remaining water. Cover and set aside in a warm-ish place, like a windowsill.

While the batter is resting, toss the asparagus, radishes and spring onions with half of the oil, decant onto the tray and roast in the oven for eight minutes. Keep warm.

To make up the soccas, heat the remaining oil in the skillet over a medium-high heat. Test the heat by flicking a little of the batter into the pan. If it sizzles immediately it is ready for the batter.

Pour in half the batter and carefully swirl the pan to cover the bottom evenly. It should be thin like single cream and have lacy edges when it hits the hot oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Carefully use a heat-proof spatula to loosen the pancake and flip, cooking a further 2-3 minutes. Two minutes on each side should give you a cooked but very flexible socca, while the three minute timings will give you a firmer crisper pancake, I have opted for the three minutes on the first side and two on the second side. If you are making one large pancake in a 12" skillet the timings will increase.

Make the second pancake with the remaining batter, adding a bit more oil to the pan, if you need to.

Either while the soccas are cooking or afterwards, fry each egg in the remaining oil. I like to fry it on one side, putting a lid on the egg after the white starts to solidify, turning off the heat and letting the yolk cook to my liking in the residual heat. No messy flipping!

To assemble, place each socca on a plate, top with the roasted vegetables, some of the raw courgette and finally the egg. This is a very filling brunch, lunch or breakfast. Serve with something raw and slightly acidic, like a handful of cherry tomatoes.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

What you need:

• 500 g Swede
• 2-3 thyme sprigs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• salt

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 200 C. Peel swede with a vegetable peeler and cut into ¼" thick pieces.

In a shallow roasting pan toss with olive oil, salt and thyme leaves. Roast in the oven for 35 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and drizzle honey all over, use a pastry brush to spread it evenly over all pieces.

Roast for 10 minutes longer until golden and soft inside.

Serves: 1

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

What you need:

• 200g kale leaves
• olive oil, as needed
• salt and pepper
• seasoning of your choice

What you need to do:

Preheat the oven (150 fan/160 conventional) and line 2 large roasting trays or cookie sheets with baking paper.

Remove the leaves from the stems and tear into pieces. Rinse thoroughly and then either use a salad spinner to dry or pat dry with kitchen towel. It's really important that the leaves are dry otherwise they will steam rather than roast in the oven.

Massage the oil into the leaves so that they are well coated. Spread over the trays, spaced apart.

It is best to cook these in batches, one tray at a time. Roast for 10 minutes, rotate the tray and roast for a further 10 or until the leaves are shrunken and crisp. Keep an eye on them as they can scorch! Repeat with the second tray.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

What you need:

• 200g leeks, cleaned and chopped + 1 small, whole leek for garnish
• 250g cauliflower, trimmed and chopped
• 200g potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1.2 litres light vegetable stock (if making up from cubes or powder use slightly less than preparation directions call for, e.g. 3 tsp per litre rather than 4)
• 50g watercress
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp vegetable oil (for garnish)

What you need to do:

Bring the stock to the boil and add in the leeks, cauliflower and potato. Bring back up to the boil then turn down and pop on the lid, simmering the soup for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the remaining small leek into rounds and sauté on each side until golden-brown.

Decant the soup into a blender or food processor, along with the Dijon mustard and watercress, and blend until smooth. Serve topped with the sautéed leeks.

Serves: 4-6

Prep time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 50 mins

What you need:

• 400g all-butter shortcrust pastry
• 2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 200g Spinach, washed and dried
• 3 eggs
• 160ml whole milk
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• A few sprigs of lemon thyme
• 125g soft goat's cheese
• 4 large sundried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• Salt & pepper

What you need to do:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. On a floured work surface, roll the pastry out to half a centimetre thick. Use to line the tart tin, pushing the pastry into the corners with a ball of spare pastry. Trim the edges but let them overhang a little (you can trim them again after baking; this stops the case shrinking). Line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans (I use old dried beans), then bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and bake for another 5 minutes, until the case is golden brown. (Tip: it helps to put the tart tin on a removable oven tray while baking, so you can just remove the whole tray from the oven when filling the tart, rather than having to precariously balance a full tart tin).

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and gently fry the onion until softened. Slice the Spinach leaves into 1cm strips, then add to the pan and cook over a medium-high heat until it has lost all of its water and is dark green and wilted (around 10 minutes). Season the spinach well.

In a jug, beat together the eggs, milk, nutmeg, the leaves of half the lemon thyme, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Remove the baked tart case from the oven (see tip above) and trim off any overhanging pastry with a sharp serrated knife. Spoon the spinach mixture into the tart case, spreading it out evenly, then pour over the milk and egg mixture.

Crumble over the goat's cheese, sprinkle over the tomatoes and the rest of the lemon thyme leaves, then scatter over the pine nuts.

Bake for around 30 minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before serving, sprinkled with a little more freshly grated nutmeg and lemon thyme, if you like.

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

What you need:

• ●½ sweet potato, cubed
• ●50g quinoa
• ●60g red lentils
• ●1 large sweet pepper
• ●1 avocado
• ●200g small, mixed tomatoes
• ●100g feta cheese, cubed
• ●3 tbsp black olives, sliced
• ●2 eggs
• ●fresh basil leaves
• ●juice of 1 lemon
• ●4 tbsp olive oil, extra for brushing

What you need to do:

Pre-heat your oven to 225C with the grill/top heat on. Cover a baking tray with tinfoil and brush with olive oil. Cube the sweet potato, arrange on the tray and brush the tops with olive oil. Put into the oven and roast for around 15 minutes until slightly charred, turning them once. Take the potato cubes out, put into a bowl to cool and set aside. Half the pepper length-wise and clean. Put skin side up onto the tray and brush with olive oil. Roast until the skin is charred, around 7 minutes. Once done, take the peppers out of the oven and leave to cool.

Cook the lentils and quinoa (separately) according to packet instructions – this might vary from brand to brand, but will take around 15 minutes. Boil the eggs for 8 minutes. Cut the roasted peppers into strips. Once the quinoa and lentils are cooled, you can start to assemble your bowl. Arrange the potato cubes, lentils and quinoa in the bowl.

Cut the tomatoes into halves and slice the avocado. Arrange the pepper strips, tomatoes and avocado on top of the first layer. Add the cubed feta cheese, sliced olives, halved eggs and basil leaves. Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil all over and add a little pepper to taste.