When dinner is down to the wire or you're too tired to cook, a meal straight from the pantry is the way to go! Michael teaches us the essentials of a well stocked cupboard to make quick and impressive meals for impromptu guests. Who knew it was so easy?
Gameplan
Hour Before Dinner (made with guests):
Mash anchovies and capers for puttanesca sauce
Steam skins off of canned tomatoes for bruschetta
Put marinara sauce, clam juice, black pepper in sauce
Pit and chop olives and add to the sauce.
Add mashed anchovies and capers combination to the sauce. Add fresh oregano.
Chop steamed tomatoes for bruschetta.
Chop prosciutto and cook on stovetop to add as bits to salad.
Mix salad dressing: chopped tarragon, Dijon mustard, gray salt, sherry vinegar
Make poached eggs for salad. Prepare greens.
Make bruschetta on grill and then top with chopped tomatoes, basil & olive oil
Make pasta
Dinner Party:
Serve salad, pasta puttanesca with bruschetta
After dinner, make espresso
Make dessert: hazelnut gelato with steamed milk, biscotti and then add hot espresso
Wine Recommendation
Chiarello Vineyards Cabernet
One of the simplest parties to give, and one of the best! Bowls of steaming hot pastas and home made raviolis are set out with a choice of delectable sauces. Guests mix and match their own signature pasta dishes, then dig in with a side of hearty salad and garlic bread.
Gameplan Day Before Party:
Poach chicken thoroughly, transfer to a bowl, cover and chill in refrigerator for Mama’s Old Fashioned Ravioli.
Blanche parsley and basil, mix with other ingredients for Blanched Basil Pesto, refrigerate overnight.
Combine other ingredients with poached chicken, refrigerate for Mama’s Old Fashioned Ravioli.
Assemble Mama’s Old Fashioned Ravioli, place on a cookie sheet, cover with a damp towel and refrigerate.
1 Hour Before Party:
Poach and brown sausage for Spicy Sausage sauce.
Mix Pasta Pomodorini sauce, and allow to simmer.
Add other ingredients to Spicy Sausage Sauce pan, and allow to simmer.
Slice and re-add browned sausage to Spicy Sausage Sauce, and continue to simmer.
Pull Blanched Basil Pesto Sauce out of the refrigerator before reheating.
At Party:
Reheat sauces.
Boil pasta.
Keep pasta warm.
Eat and Enjoy!