This week is National Vegetarian Week. To be honest, we don’t eat a lot of vegetarian food. We all love vegetables and eat a wide variety but, on the whole, they are usually an accompaniment or side dish. So, when I was challenged by Asda to go vegetarian for a week, I jumped at the chance. We should be looking to widen our repertoire of veggie dishes and this is the perfect opportunity to do it.

Initially, the children were a bit sceptical about it – Grace was worried that she couldn’t eat ham sandwiches! Faith isn’t a big meat eater so I’m hoping this week will encourage us to cook some meals she’ll really love. Asda also sent us a gift card to buy some delicious fruit and veg to help us on our way. So the girls and I sat down and planned our menu.

This week the children are having school lunches for most of the week and have the option of a vegetarian meal. They have both said they will choose that. For the days that they have lunch boxes, I am going to make them cheese wraps instead of their usual ham sandwiches and some pizza swirls (replacing the meat with red onion and peppers!).

Planning our evening meals was actually quite fun! Here’s what we came up with:

Monday – Asparagus, mozzarella and pesto tart

Tuesday – Creamy courgette lasagne

Wednesday – Stir fry vegetables with cashews

Thursday – Tomato, garlic and basil pasta

Friday – Vegetable curry

We are heading off on holiday for a week on Saturday so we will do our best to stick to our veggie meals while we’re away!

asparagus, mozzarella and pesto tart

I love asparagus and as it’s in season at the moment, I knew I had to buy some. So tonight’s meal was a super speedy asparagus, mozzarella and pesto tart. As I’m pushed for time this week, I used a jar of ready made pesto but it would be even better with home-made.  I always buy puff pastry – life’s too short to make your own! In this recipe, the ready rolled sheets are just perfect.

Ingredients

1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry

1/2 jar pesto

1 bunch asparagus (approx 20 spears)

1 ball mozzarella

What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (my new oven needs to be on a much higher temperature than my previous ones so watch you don’t burn it!)

2. Unroll the pastry sheet onto a baking sheet and spread the pesto over it, leaving a border around the edge to allow the pastry to rise.

3. Wash and dry the asparagus and snap the ends off.

asparagus spears

4. Arrange the asparagus spears on top of the pesto and pastry then tear the mozzarella and add to the tart.

asparagus and mozzarella

5. Bake for approx 20 – 25 minutes until the pastry edge is risen, the cheese is bubbling and the asparagus is cooked through.

Enjoy!

What are your favourite vegetarian meals?

Disclosure: Asda sent me a £50 gift card to buy a selection of their fresh fruit and vegetables.