Nigel Slater: I make sure that anyone who doesnt wish to eat meat has something good to tuck into. Above: his aubergine cassoulet recipe. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin for the Observer

The year is galloping towards Christmas and I still have much to do. Some of which means making sure that anyone who doesnt wish to eat meat has something good to tuck into. This year on my Christmas table its a mushroom bourguignon, thick with all manner of mushrooms amid a cloud of butternut mash.

A few coriander seeds aside, I have kept the flavours bosky and herbal with rosemary, thyme and coriander seed, and thrown in a very large glass of pinot noir. Golden, slightly boozy, it has Christmas written all over it.

While I was at it, I made an aubergine dish vaguely in the style of a cassoulet. The aubergines were sliced from stem to tip to keep them thick and juicy, browned then tucked among the beans, onions and herbs, and cooked slowly in a deep casserole.

Two recipes for a cold winter night that, in my house, will be coming out for Christmas, too.

Unusually in one my recipes, I have used a tiny squirt of tomato pure. It is not an ingredient I use very much, as it can have something of the school bully about it, but occasionally it is appropriate, as, I think, in this recipe.

Serves 4-6 aubergines 2 olive oil onions 2 garlic 3 cloves tomatoes 250g bay leaves 2 thyme 4 sprigs rosemary 3 sprigs tomato pure a little haricot beans 2 x 400g cans vegetable stock 250ml

For the crust: white bread 120g thyme leaves 1 tbsp olive oil

Discard the stems from the aubergines, then slice each one in half lengthways, then in half again. Warm 3 or 4 tbsp of oil in a deep, heavy-based casserole, then fry the aubergines in the oil until they are soft and nicely golden brown on their cut sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Peel the onions, roughly chop them, then let them cook in the same pan, adding more oil if necessary, for 10-15 minutes, until soft and pale honey-coloured. Peel and thinly slice the garlic, stir into the onion as it cooks. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.

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Nigel Slaters vegetarian Christmas dinner