Hello Dear Reader,
I'm going to be cooking several Christmas lunches this year. I will be cooking twice to create lunch for 25 (on both occasions), on the 6th and 13th of December so some local single parents can have a really enjoyable morning and then be spoilt with a three course Christmas lunch. I don't know if anyone coming is a vegetarian but I needed a quick but delicious recipe so I could give them an alternative to the turkey.
I practised the starter that I'm going to serve today. I made six portions, two we ate for our lunch and then packed the rest into individual portions and then have frozen them for my lunch over the week.
Roast Sweet potato and Butternut Squash soup - as a starter, serve this in a cup and saucer just as a little appetiser - this would serve 8 as a small starter.
You will need
1 peeled and chopped buternut squash - 79p - Aldi
750g of sweet potatoes - 69p - Aldi
1 large onion - 22p - Aldi
1 stock cube dissolved in a litre of boiling water - 4p - Aldi
3 tablespoons of oil - 7p - Aldi
£1.81 - 8 portions at 22p per portion.
Roast the vegetables at `180C for 40 minutes.
When cooked, add the roasted vegetables to a saucepan. Add the vegetable stock and blend. Add more boiling water if you like your soup thinner.
We ate ours for lunch with a stuffed mushroom. See below as to how to make this.
To make the stuffed mushrooms you will need
1 mushroom per person - 89p for four - Aldi
1/2 jar of Pesto Rosso - 50p
2 slices of bread turned into bread crumbs - I used GF but if you used standard wholemeal, it would cost 4p - Aldi Everyday essentials wholemeal
100g of finely grated mature cheddar - 48p
1 large onion, very finely chopped - 22p
1 teaspoon of mild chilli powder.
£2.13 - four portions - 53p each. As it's a special occasion, you could use a hard Italian cheese such as Parmegiano and the cheese price would rise to £1.50 - making each portion 78p.
All prices are from Aldi - I use www.mysupermarket.co.uk to check this. I also do 80% of my shopping there.
To make these, heat the oven to 180.
Wipe the mushrooms with a kitchen towel and remove the stalks.
Place a heaped teaspoon of Pesto Rosso in each and spread around.
In the food processor, add two slices of bread and one roughly chopped onion.
Pulse until small bread crumbs and tiny pieces of onion.
Finely grate 100g of cheese and add to the mixture.
Stir well.
Heap into the mushroom, packing it down to get as much filling in as possible.
Bake for 15 minutes or until crispy. Every oven is different.
Serve instead of Roast Turkey and serve with a tomato sauce, roast potatoes, veggies and which ever of the traditional 'sides' you would like. You could also serve this any day of the year with salad, as a starter or as a veggie main course with some side vegetables.
Over to any vegetarian readers, what special dish will be on your Christmas table. Also, I need another quick but delicious alternative in case I have any vegetarians at the Christmas lunches that I'm cooking. Any ideas?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxx
This is not a sponsored post and the ingredients were bought as part of my weekly shop from my local Aldi in Liskeard.