Dishes for the night before Christmas

These are vegetarian dishes with enough luxury to satisfy the demands of the season that’s in it

I’VE BEEN QUIZZING people about what they eat on Christmas Eve. One of our columnists (Miss Ingle, actually) enjoys a famous lobster risotto that her sister makes every year for all the family and which is apparently delicious, especially with a glass of bubbly. (I have been promised the recipe, some time in 2012.)

Others indulge in something small and simple like a good pâté or terrine, and some seem to want to indulge in the last bit of casual fun before all the meat and veg appears on every plate, so it’s pizzas galore. Normally, we’re a bit of a mixed bag ourselves, so some cheese and maybe a few bits of smoked salmon on brown bread are all that’s offered up, simply because so much cooking will be done the next day.

Over the past few years I’ve been the recipient of some very nice bits and pieces from Peck, the famous Milan deli (thanks to my Italian in-laws), but sadly, after two years of travel hell due to snow-clogged runways and delayed flights, they’ve decided to stay at home this year. This means we’ll be a much smaller gathering, so I’ll probably fill the void of a quieter table with a few more bits on the plate.

Two recipes caught my eye for just this purpose, one being an homage to the Ingle risotto and my Italian in-laws. The other is for all the veggies out there who usually get overlooked during Christmas and it comes from the cook-book from the smart London restaurant in Clerkenwell, The Modern Pantry. It’s full of interesting flavours and recipes that seem a little bit Ottolenghi crossed with Peter Gordon.

The feta, date and sweetcorn fritter recipe seemed daunting at the start and full of ingredients you would rarely keep stocked, such as buttermilk and chickpea flour. So after some dabbling and simplifying, we got a great result with a little more ease. These were a big hit with everyone who sampled them and would taste great as a nibble for a very large gathering of friends or for veggies on the big day. I also reheated them the next day and they were fine and, even more impressively, quite a few kids gave them the thumbs up. Either that or they were looking for some cash and thought that by praising my experiments, they stood a good chance. Undeniably, they were right.

Risotto with taleggio, thyme and truffle

If you can’t get taleggio, use any soft cheese that will melt well. Serves 6-8 as starter/small main

1.5 litres of vegetable or chicken stock, hot

50g butter

Splash olive oil

2 onions, peeled and very finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

500g Arborio rice

I tbsp thyme leaves

1 bay leaf

2 glasses white wine or champagne

About 120g taleggio

150g Parmesan, grated

Few drops truffle oil (optional) or fruity olive oil

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter and olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan and sweat the onions until soft. Add the garlic, rice, thyme and bay leaves and mix well so the rice becomes well coated with butter and oil. Turn up the heat a little and then add the wine or champagne. Let it bubble, simmer and pretty much evaporate, then add ladlefuls of the hot stock, about one cup at a time, and stir gently with a wooden spoon. Keep going for about 20 minutes, slowly stirring, letting it absorb and evaporate and then adding a bit more. Keep the heat gentle, but constant.

After 20 minutes, the rice should be nice and soft and at this stage, stir in the taleggio, which you can break into chunks. Add the Parmesan and taste. If the rice is too hard, keep adding some more water or stock and keep cooking gently. Season if necessary and serve in a bowl with a few drops of truffle oil or regular olive oil or even some more Parmesan.

Feta, date and sweetcorn fritters

Serves 8 – makes about 28-30 fritters

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric

Pinch chilli flakes

2 red onions, peeled and very finely diced

Salt and pepper

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 good tsp sugar

170-200g feta, finely diced

200g stoned dates, finely chopped

1 tin drained sweetcorn (300g approx) or kernels from 2 corn on the cobs

2 bunches spring onions, very finely sliced

170g flour

75g polenta

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

¾ tsp baking powder

100ml yoghurt and 50ml milk or 150ml buttermilk

2 eggs

Sunflower or rapeseed oil for frying

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the fennel and cumin seeds, turmeric and chilli flakes until they are starting to smell good and strong. Add the red onions and cook until starting to caramelise, then season and add the sugar. Caramelise a bit more and then chuck this into a bowl and let it cool down while you dice the feta, dates and spring onions. Add these to the onions, along with the corn kernels.

Put the flour, polenta, soda and baking powder in a bowl. Mix the milk and yoghurt or buttermilk with the eggs. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the egg and milk mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until it forms into a thick batter, and then add the spiced vegetables and cheese. The batter will be like thick porridge.

Heat one centimetre of oil in a large non-stick frying pan and fry dessert spoonfuls of the batter. Have a plate with a paper towel nearby to drain the fritters. They cook quite quickly; so turn them over so they fry on both sides. Do them in batches and either serve them while they are still warm, or allow them to cool down and reheat the next day.

DOMINI RECOMMENDS

Atlantic Treasures smoked Irish mackerel.

These are really tasty and meaty. There is one with a honey and mustard glaze and one with a ginger, chilli and lime glaze. It’s a lovely product – don’t let the slightly dull packaging deter you. It’s available in Dunnes Stores, Nicky’s Plaice in Howth and SuperValu shops