These veggie meals will make you seriously question your love of meat.

 

Pasta with garlic butter, spinach and Parmesan

It's as if someone said, "How can we make butter even better?" Feel free to go the extra mile and make some lentil balls to put on top.

Recipe:

Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 25 mins
Serves: 3-4 portions/people

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter (organic for an extra ommph, in flavor)
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs thyme (or rosemary)
2-3 handfuls baby spinach
8 ounces pasta
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan

In a sauce pan heat up the butter over a medium to low. Mince up your garlic and add that to pan also, sauteing for a minute. To the mixture put in the thyme, and cook for a further minute. Add in the spinach to butter mixture and cook until the spinach is wilted.
Bring a good sized pot of water to a boil. Add in the pasta and cook until tender (or to your liking). Drain and add pasta to spinach mixture. Sprinkle the cup of shredded Parmesan on top and mix everything together.
Serve with an extra sprinkling of the Parmesan and thyme.

 

Mushroom Cake

Earn some extra brownie points with your guests, with this savory mushroom cake packed with flavor.

Recipe Details:

Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Serves: 3-4 portions/people

Ingredients

1/2 cup of flour, (for rolling out puff pastry)
1 large onion, or 2 small onions, halved and thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounce package), thaw this according to package instructions
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 packets (10 ounces each) of white mushrooms, (or any mushroom of your choosing) trimmed and thinly sliced.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On the floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. To neaten the look, trim off any uneven edges. Put the pastry on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score dough and create a 1-inch border. With a fork, prick dough inside the border at every 1/2 inch. Bake until golden, rotating pan once, at about 15 minutes or until tender.
In a small saucepan, toss onion with 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt to taste. Cover and cook over medium heat until onion become golden, this should take about 5 minutes. Stir. Continue cooking with lid on for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat the remaining oil. Add mushrooms; cover with lid and cook until tender and all liquid has evaporated, this will take about 10 minutes. Fold in your spinach and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes more. Drain any liquid.
Top the baked base with the mushroom-spinach mixture. Scatter with the cooked onion and crumble some goat cheese on top. Bake until cheese is lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

 

Risotto with leeks, shiitake mushrooms and truffles

Got a romantic evening planned? this is the dish, feel like treating yourself? this is the dish, in fact you really don't need any excuse, just cook and enjoy!

Ingredients
Leeks:
2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), halved, thinly sliced crosswise (about 2 cups)
3/4 cup whipping cream
Mushrooms:
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, cut into 1/4- to 1/3-inch-thick slices
1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 tablespoon white truffle oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Risotto:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cups (or more) hot vegetable broth
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons shaved or chopped black truffle (optional)
Chopped fresh parsley

For leeks:
Bring the leeks and cream to rolling boil in heavy medium saucepan. Reduce heat to medium and let the leeks simmer until they are tender and the cream has thickened, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. THIS CAN BE DONE AHEAD: To make life a little easier, especially when expecting guests, make 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm before continuing.
For mushrooms:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss all ingredients on rimmed baking sheet. Give this a sprinkling with salt and pepper. Roast until mushrooms are tender and golden brown around the edges, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. DO AHEAD: This also can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
For risotto:
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine and stir until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup hot vegetable broth. Simmer until broth is almost absorbed, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Add more broth, 1 cup at a time, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding next and stirring often, until rice is tender and mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes longer. Stir in leek mixture, mushroom mixture, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, cheese, and truffle. Transfer to large bowl, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.