Image shows serving suggestion for Vegan Mediterranean Vegetable Tart for Christmas menus

Frozen food distributor Central Foods has launched its new Menuserve Mediterranean Vegetable Tart as an ideal vegan option on any Christmas menu.

"Visually exciting with lots of colour and different tempting textures, the Menuserve Mediterranean Vegetable Tart will appeal not only to vegans but will also go down well with those diners who are looking for a tasty alternative to meat,” said Gordon Lauder, MD of Central Foods.

"One in eight in the UK is now either vegetarian or vegan, with between one in five and one in three identifying as a meat reducer or flexitarian, and this new product will ensure foodservice outlets have mouth-watering Christmas menu options for those who have dietary requirements. Increasingly, free-from menu items are appealing more generally too, as growing numbers of people opt for a flexitarian or meat-reducing approach to their diets."

The Menuserve Mediterranean Vegetable Tart is a ready-to-bake, crisp basil pastry case filled with a slow roasted tomato sauce topped with grilled courgettes, red and yellow peppers, red onions and cherry tomatoes, all finished with a crunchy basil and pumpkin seed crumb.

“It’s always useful to have frozen products available to suit dietary requirements, as not only does it help to cater for unexpected demand but also helps if allocating designated free-from prep areas of the kitchen is an issue,” added Gordon Lauder.

Menuserve Mediterranean Vegetable Tarts are packed 1 x 12, each tart is approximately 260g.

Northamptonshire-based Central Foods is one of the UK’s leading frozen food distributors, supplying more than 400 different lines into foodservice, ranging from vegetarian and free-from items, meat products, bakery items and canapés through to buffet products, desserts and puddings. It currently sells to more than 240 independent wholesalers, as well as larger national and regional wholesalers, and foodservice caterers across the entire foodservice industry including schools, universities, pubs, bars, restaurants, hotels, leisure centres, garden centres, cafés, care homes and many other outlets.