Delia has long been canonised as the UK's cookery saviour, and now she has come to the aid of vegetarians and vegetable-lovers with her new book, Delia's Vegetarian Collection. Try one of these tempting recipes from the book and move vegetables from side-dish to centre stage.

Roasted Red Peppers Stuffed with Fennel

Serves 4-6

This delightful combination of flavours makes a very attractive first course. The dish needs lots of really good bread, as there?s always a profusion of fragrant juices. If you want to make the peppers ahead of time, cover with foil after cooling but don?t refrigerate them, as this spoils the fragrant flavour.

You will also need a shallow baking sheet (I use a Swiss-roll tin).

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 350?F (180?C).

Begin by slicing each pepper in half lengthways, cutting right through the green stalk end and leaving it intact; though it won?t be eaten, it adds much to the look of the thing. Remove all the seeds. Now place the pepper halves on the baking sheet, then drain the tomatoes (you don?t need the juice), and divide them into 8 equal portions, placing each portion inside a pepper half.

Next, pare off any brownish bits of fennel with your sharpest knife and cut the bulbs first into quarters and then again into eighths, carefully keeping the layers attached to the root ends. Now put them in a saucepan with a little salt, pour boiling water on them and blanch them for 5 minutes. Then drain them in a colander and, as soon as they?re cool enough to handle, arrange 2 slices in each pepper half. Sprinkle 1 dessertspoon olive oil over each one, using a brush to spread the oil round the edges and sides of the peppers.

Next, lightly crush the pepper berries, coriander and fennel seeds with a pestle and mortar, or rolling pin and bowl, sprinkle these evenly all over the fennel and peppers and finish off with a grinding of sea salt.

Then bake the peppers for approximately 1 hour on a high shelf in the oven until they are soft and the skin wrinkled and nicely tinged with brown. After removing them from the oven, sprinkle the lemon juice all over, cool and serve, garnished with a little finely chopped spring onion, or as they are.

Oven-baked Wild Mushroom Risotto

Serves 2, or 6 as a starter

I've always loved real Italian risotto, a creamy mass with the rice grains al dente ? but oh, the bother of all that stirring to make it. This is another oven-baked risotto ? it works like a dream and leaves you in peace to enjoy the company of your friends while it's cooking.

You will also need a 9 inch (23 cm) square shallow, ovenproof dish, approximately 2 inches (5 cm) deep.

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 2, 300?F (150?C).

First of all, you need to soak the dried mushrooms and, to do this, you place them in a bowl and pour 1 pint (570 ml) of boiling water over them. Then just leave them to soak and soften for half an hour. Meanwhile, chop the fresh mushrooms into 1⁄2 inch (1 cm) chunks ? not too small, as they shrink down quite a bit in the cooking.

Now melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the onion and let it cook over a gentle heat for about 5 minutes, then add the fresh mushrooms, stir well and leave on one side while you deal with the porcini.

When they have had their half-hour soak, place a sieve over a bowl, line the sieve with a double sheet of kitchen paper and strain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the liquid. Squeeze any excess liquid out of them, then chop them finely and transfer to the pan to join the other mushrooms and the onion. Keep the heat low and let the onions and mushrooms sweat gently and release their juices ? which will take about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the dish in the oven to warm. Now add the rice and stir it around to get a good coating of butter, then add the Madeira, followed by the strained mushroom soaking liquid. Add a teaspoon of salt and some freshly milled black pepper, bring up to simmering point, then transfer the whole lot from the pan to the warmed dish. Stir once, then place it on the centre shelf of the oven without covering. Set a timer and give it 20 minutes exactly.

After that, gently stir in the grated parmesan, turning the rice grains over. Now put the timer on again and give it a further 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and put a clean tea cloth over it while you invite everyone to be seated. Like souffles, risottos won't wait, so serve presto pronto on warmed plates and sprinkle with the shavings of parmesan.

Petits Monts Blancs

Serves 8

When I first worked in a restaurant kitchen in the early 1960s, this recipe was on the menu and I became totally addicted to the sweetened chestnut puree. Chestnut has an amazing affinity with meringue and whipped cream, but in this modern version I have replaced the cream with mascarpone and fromage frais; this way you get the flavour and creamy richness of the mascarpone but lightened by the fromage frais.

For the meringues:
2 large egg whites
4 oz (110 g) white caster sugar

For the filling:
2 x 250 g tins creme de marrons
de l?Ardeche (sweetened chestnut puree), chilled

For the mascarpone cream:
9 oz (250 g) mascarpone
7 fl oz (200 ml) 8 per cent fat fromage frais
1 rounded dessertspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
a little icing sugar for dusting

You will also need a 16 x 12 inch (40 x 30 cm) baking sheet, lined with baking parchment.

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 2, 300?F (150?C).

To make the meringues, place the egg whites in a large spanking clean bowl and, using an electric hand whisk on a low speed, begin whisking.

Continue for about 2 minutes, until the whites are foamy, then switch the speed to medium and carry on whisking for 1 more minute. Now turn the speed to high and continue whisking until the egg whites reach the stiff-peak stage. Next, whisk the sugar in on fast speed, a little at a time (about a dessertspoon), until you have a stiff and glossy mixture.

Now all you do is spoon 8 heaped dessertspoons of the mixture on to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them evenly. Then, using the back of the spoon or a small palette knife, hollow out the centres. Don?t worry if they are not all the same shape ? random and rocky is how I would describe them.

Next, pop them on the centre shelf of the oven, immediately reduce the heat to gas mark 1, 275?F (140?C) and leave them for 30 minutes. After that, turn the oven off and leave the meringues to dry out in the warmth of the oven until it is completely cold (usually about 4 hours) or overnight. The meringues will store well in a tin or plastic box, and will even freeze extremely well.

To assemble the Monts Blancs, spoon equal quantities of the creme de marrons into each meringue, whisk the mascarpone cream ingredients together (except the icing sugar) and then spoon equal amounts on top of the chestnut puree. A light dusting of icing sugar is good for a snowcapped-mountain image.