Autumnal Vegetarian Dinner Party Menu

mushroom and sherry soup

nut roast, chicory salad, stuffed aubergines

pavlova with seasonal fruits

Thanks for your suggestions - sounds good.

What would you suggest stuffing the aubergine with, and do you have a particularly good nut roast recipe?

I was also considering a kind of mushroom ragout. There's a vegetarian restaurant/ cafe in London called Mildreds that serves a mushroom pie which has a really rich, almost meaty mushroom gravy filling. Would anyone know how you could get that depth of flavour (wihtout using meat obviously).

What seasonal fruits would you have with the pavlova? It's a bit late for summer berries and apples or pears wouldn't be quite right would it?

Vegetarian mini Top_Crimp pasties for starters...Nice.

Large Top_Crimp veggie pastie for the main...A drizzle of tomato sauce and freshly cracked black pepper..

Small, delicate Top-Crimp pastie made with Filo pastry...and covered with clotted cream for the 'Aaaaafters'..(Said with a debonshire accent)

Top tucker and I bet your meal will be a talking point for years.....

Use big, flat mushrooms and a dash of soy sauce and stew them slowly. I used to make a mushroom stroganoff when I didn't eat meat. It was nice with rice and a green salad, but not autumnal.

I stuff aubergines with rice cooked in stock with the scooped out aubergine, onions, garlic, tomatoes, lemon juice, salt, herbs and spices (I like mint and cinnamon).

Nut roast recipe:

Ingredients
225g/8oz bulgar wheat
330ml/11fl oz boiling water
3 tbsp soya sauce
175g/6oz pistachio nuts
175g/6oz pine nuts
225g/8oz blanched almonds
175g/6oz cashew nuts
110g/4oz hazel nuts
110g/4oz sunflower seeds
110g/4oz poppy seeds
250g/9oz onion, finely chopped
4 tbsp fresh and finely chopped parsley
2 tbsp dried thyme
4 large free range eggs, lightly whisked
4 tbsp olive oil
a little oil for pouring on roast

For the sauce:
275g/9½oz cranberries
275g/9½oz cooking apples, cored and thinly chopped
150ml/5fl oz apple juice concentrate
50ml/2fl oz water
4 tbsp brandy

Method
1. Place the bulgar wheat in a mixing bowl and pour on the boiling water and soya sauce. Cover and let swell for 25 minutes.
2. Grind nuts and seeds to a medium fine consistency. Mix together with the wheat. Stir in the parsley, thyme, onions, eggs and oil. Mix well and allow to stand.
3. Oil a large baking sheet and line with greaseproof paper.
4. Form a loaf shape with the nut mixture, about 10cm/4in wide, press firmly together and prick the top with a fork.
5. Pour on a little oil and sprinkle with some extra nuts (optional) and cap loosely with a foil hood.
6. Bake in oven 190C/375F/Gas 5 for 40 minutes.
7. Take off hood, baste with oil on baking sheet and continue to bake for a further 10 minutes.
8. Place in a large serving dish, then cool, easing off the paper as you do so. Cover with the hood until ready to garnish.
9. To make the sauce cook all the ingredients, except the brandy, together for about 20 minutes. Add the brandy and re-heat for 30 seconds. Serve as an accompaniment to the main dish.

Creamy butternut- potato soup
A rice dish with regular rice, wild rice, pine nuts and cranberries
Spinach crepes

Spinach salad with hazelnuts and a warm rosemary-balsamic vinaigrette
Squash-stuffed ravioli with toasted pinenuts, parmesan and sage butter (you MUST crumble amaretti biscuits into the ravioli filling!)
I don't make desserts so my best suggestion would be Fudgesicles.

I doubt your London place did this, but one way to get a really rich mushroom flavor is to buy dried morels (very expensive!). Soak them and use the juice to enrich the gravy.

Patties of ground leeks, carrots and potatoes are becoming popular in France.

Leaf salad, Rich Vegetable lasagne, pear with port wine. This sounds very much personal preference? It is good for chilly day and cozy night.