Pre Christmas Dinner Party

I LOVE DINNER PARTIES!!!!!

Disclaimer, I love hosting, I love dressing up, I love food, I love decorative things, I love candles, I love company of good people, I love banter, I love champagne, I love pink.........

With all this being said it would stand to reason that I love hosting and also attending dinner parties. Theres something about being in a nice environment, with good food and beautiful people that just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside and thats not attributable to the vast consumption of alcohol either.

I wanted the menu to be fully vegan of course but to also have a few options to cater for all pallets, hence there being two starter and two main options.

I purchased a lot of my ingredients online from Ocado and Vegankind and the rest was purchased the day before from my local green grocers.

The Pumpkin and Sweet Potato soup was simply what it says on the tin...

Fresh pumpkin - skinned and cubed

Sweet potatoes - skinned and cubed

Red onion - diced

4 Spring onion - chopped

1/2 scotch bonnet pepper - thinly chopped (no seeds)

Spelt boiled dumplings (see previous post)

Add a pumpkin - packet soup - I like to use Grace (get this for the world food aisle in any supermarket)

Boil all ingredients in hot water for 20 mins - allow to thicken - add salt and pepper accordingly

The Aubergine lasagne

• 3 aubergines

• 3 cloves of garlic

• a few sprigs of fresh thyme

• 6 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 dried red chilli

• 2 x 400 g tins of quality plum tomatoes

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

• 1 bunch of fresh basil

• 150 g Vegan Cheddar cheese

• 70 g Vegan Parmesan cheese

• 250 g free from egg lasagne sheets

• extra virgin olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400ºF/gas 6.

Steam the whole aubergines in a colander over a pan of simmering water for 30 minutes, then halve, scoop out and roughly chop the flesh.

Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the garlic and pick the thyme leaves.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the garlic, thyme and aubergine, then crumble over the chilli and cook for 10 minutes.

Tip in the tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon, then add the balsamic vinegar.

Pick in most of the basil leaves, then bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and reduced, then taste and season to perfection with pink himalayan salt and black pepper.

Grate the Vegan Parmesan and half the Vegan Cheddar, roughly slicing the remaining Cheddar.

To layer up, spread a layer of tomato sauce across the base of an ovenproof dish.

Sprinkle lightly with grated cheese, cover with a layer of lasagne sheets, then repeat the layers twice more. Finish with a layer of sauce, sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and dot over the slices of Cheddar.

Bake at the bottom of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

Scatter over the remaining basil, drizzle lightly with extra virgin, then serve.

The Chickpea Curry

• 2 medium onions

• 1 x 400 g tin chickpeas

• 1-2 fresh green or red chillies

• 2 tablespoons avocado or olive oil

• ½ x 400 g tin of coconut milk

• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger paste

• 1 teaspoon garlic paste

• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1 teaspoon curry powder

• 1-2 teaspoon sugar , optional

• a few sprigs of fresh thyme

• Salt and pepper

Method

• Peel and finely chop the onions, drain and rinse the chickpeas and finely slice the chillies.

• Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and add the onions and fry until transparent and turning golden at the edges.

• Add the ginger and garlic pastes, the red chilli powder, turmeric, curry powder and a pinch of salt. Keep stirring and cook for 5 minutes.

• Stir the chickpeas into the pan. Add coconut milk to make a thick sauce. Place the lid on the pan, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

• Sprinkle fresh thyme and stir for a further 2 minutes.

• Serve with plain roti skins or rice.

The Black Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups full­ fat coconut milk

1 cup raw cashews

½ cup almond milk + more as needed

¾ cup organic sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp coconut flakes

small pinch of sea salt

3 tbsp ¼ activated black charcoal

Method

In a high ­speed blender combine cashews and almond milk and blend until you teach a thick and creamy consistency.

Add coconut milk and remaining ingredients (except pineapple) to the blender and mix until very smooth and creamy.

Add ice cream to an airtight container and place in the freezer and allow to freeze overnight

for the ice cream to freeze completely.

Note: I didn't use an ice cream maker and it came out beautifully!

Lets no forget the table setting which was an elegant combination of pink and gold.

Did I mention I love pink??