VEGETARIAN RECIPES for CHRISTMAS
Potato, onion, sage and gruyère tart
Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil
6 sage leaves
3 onions, peeled and finely sliced
250g/9oz ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry
3 large cooked leftover roast potatoes (or boiled potatoes), quartered
150g/5½oz gruyère (or alternative vegetarian alpine cheese)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5.
Put the olive oil and sage leaves in a pan. Fry until crisp and then immediately remove the sage leaves and set aside.
Add the sliced onions to the same pan. Cook over a low to moderate heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and caramelised. (Do put the time into caramelising the onions in this easy vegetable tart - the natural sweetness sets off the gruyère and sage beautifully.) Set aside.
Lay the puff pastry out on a lined baking tray and top with the caramelised onions, leaving a border all around. Top with the potatoes and grated gruyère. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Remove from the oven when golden-brown, garnish with the crisp sage leaves and serve.
( By Matt Tebbutt for Good Food Magazine)
Tahini Roast Potato with Figs from (Delicious magazine)
Ingredients:
1kg floury potatoes (Desiree, King Edward, Maris Piper)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, bashed in their skins
2 rosemary sprigs
100g dried figs
3 tbsp tahini
Method:
1. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and heat the oven to 180°C fan/gas 6.
2. Peel the potatoes, halve or quarter them (depending on size), then parboil for 10 minutes. Drain, then toss in the colander to rough up the edges a bit – this is the key to those delicious crispy bits. Leave to steam dry in the colander while you heat the oil.Pour the oil/fat into a large roasting tray, add the garlic and rosemary and heat in the oven for 5 minutes. Once hot, carefully add the potatoes and toss gently to coat in the oil. Roast in the oven for 50 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes or so to get an even golden finish.
3. Roughly chop the figs, put in a bowl, then stir in the tahini. Carefully coat the hot potatoes in the tahini mixture and roast for a further 10-15 minutes.
Tips: You can parboil the potatoes in advance. They may take a little longer to crisp up from fridge cold though, so stir regularly and add an extra 10 minutes to the cooking time.
Heating the oil before adding the parboiled potatoes is a very important step – it ensures the oil crisps them up instead of getting absorbed.Using a high-quality tahini will make all the difference.