Panic-free vegetarian dinner party

Main course
Try this filling broad bean pilaf, splendid with raisins (plump, juicy Lexia or Muscat), toasted pine nuts (long thin Italian ones if you can find them) or toasted slivered almonds, crispy fried onion and fried cumin seeds.

Broad Bean Pilaf
Serves 6–8

500g basmati rice
100ml olive oil
1 large Spanish onion or 2 medium onions, finely sliced
4 tsp cumin seeds
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
350g frozen broad beans
2 tbsp Lexia or ordinary raisins
2 tbsp pine nuts or slivered almonds
Handful coriander leaves, picked off the stalks
Salt and pepper

1. Cook the basmati rice in lightly salted cold water, doubling the volume of water to rice. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down to a simmer. The rice is cooked when all the water is absorbed and the surface is marked with tiny craters.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil and fry the onion until browned. Remove half of it and set aside, but continue to fry the rest until crisp. Then set this aside and return the first lot to the pan. Continue to fry for a couple of minutes with the cumin seeds, garlic and salt and pepper, taking care that the onion does not blacken – pick out any black bits you see.
3. Boil the broad beans for 8 minutes or a few minutes longer than it says on the back of the packet. Rinse them under cold water and add them to the cumin, fried onion and the raisins. Stir over a low heat for another minute or two and wait for the cooked rice to finish.
4. Toast the pine nuts or slivered almonds in a dry pan until tinged with gold. Then when the rice is ready, add it to the pan of fried onion. Stir it well so that it takes on the colours and flavours of all the other ingredients. To serve, top with the reserved crisp onion, the pine nuts or slivered almonds and the coriander leaves.

Dessert
Serve a quality vanilla ice cream with rose water syrup. Combine 2 tbsp rose water, 110g caster sugar, 200ml water, a few cardamom pods and a squeeze of lemon juice. Boil, then simmer to spoon-coating stickiness. Top with a few broken, oven-fresh pistachios or a sesame snap.

**Stop Press**
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