WHEN you have friends over for dinner the last thing you want to do is spend the whole time in the kitchen banging pots around and sweating over a hot stove.
The secret is to choose a menu that can be made ahead and served with a minimum of last-minute preparation.
Well here you go, here's that menu; when your guests arrive all you'll need to do is put the pasta in the oven, assemble the salad and whip some cream for the dessert (and maybe slice up a crusty baguette to go with the rotollo). Then put on some great music and pour the wine . . . and in a perfect world your husband will do the dishes once the guests have gone home (good luck with that).
CRAB SALAD IN ENDIVE LEAVES
This is a light and pretty first course. You can substitute fresh baby shrimp for the crab. 8 oz jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over to remove any shell or cartilage
¼ cup finely chopped celery
2 tsp minced fresh chives
1 tsp minced fresh dill
1 ?3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ tsp freshly grated lemon zest
½ tsp Dijon mustard Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Belgian endive leaves (buy fairly large heads of endive, say 4" long; remove stem ends and separate the leaves, selecting the largest and most attractive to use for the salad; you'll need 3 leaves per serving) Butter lettuce leaves for serving plates
In a medium bowl toss the crabmeat, celery, chives and dill together. In a separate small bowl make the dressing: stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice and zest and the mustard. Add the dressing to the crab mixture and stir gently until just coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
To assemble salads spoon crab mixture into the large ends of the endive leaves. Place one butter lettuce leaf on each of 6 serving plates and arrange 3 of the filled endive leaves on top. Sprinkle with a few chives to garnish.
THREE-CHEESE ROTOLLO WITH TWO SAUCES
Filling:
8 oz ricotta cheese
½ cup shredded Fontina cheese
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley Salt and freshly ground
pepper to taste
3 fresh lasagna noodles, each approx. 12 x 5" (available refrigerated in many supermarkets)
White Sauce:
1 Tbsp butter 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups 2 per cent milk
¼ cup whipping cream
1 clove garlic
¼ tsp salt and a few gratings of black pepper
2 cups purchased or homemade tomato sauce for pasta (buy a good-quality refrigerated brand such as Duso's or Olivieri)
Make the white sauce: In a saucepan melt butter over medium heat; stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes without browning. Whisk in milk, cream, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens slightly. Strain sauce through a sieve to make it silky smooth and remove garlic clove.
Make filling/prepare pasta: Stir together ricotta, Fontina, ¼ cup of the Parmesan, egg, parsley, salt and pepper. Set aside. In a large pot of boiling salted water cook the pasta until pliable but not fully cooked, about three to four minutes. Drain, keeping sheets separate to prevent them sticking together.
To assemble: Spread about 1 ?3 cup of the white sauce on the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch casserole dish. Spread ½ cup of the filling over each lasagna sheet, leaving a ¾" border on the long edges. Starting at one long edge, roll sheet up tightly into a cylinder. Cut each cylinder into one-inch rolls. Arrange the rolls seam side down on top of the sauce in the casserole, making four evenly spaced rows. Pour the remaining white sauce evenly over the top, making sure pasta is completely covered; sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. (Dish can be made ahead to this point and refrigerated until ready to bake). Cover dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly, about 30 minutes, uncovering for the last 10 minutes. During those 10 minutes gently heat the tomato sauce in a small saucepan. To serve, pour a puddle of the heated tomato sauce in the bottom of each pasta bowl; place a serving of the rotollo on top, then drizzle more tomato sauce over top. Sprinkle with additional freshly grated Parmesan. Makes six servings.
PAVLOVA WITH FRESH BERRIES
This might be my favourite dessert - I could eat a whole one myself! It's extra good with a layer of lemon curd under the whipped cream (see "When Life Hands You Lemons" column, April 4).
Make this early in the morning the day of your dinner or the night before.
4 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 250-ml carton whipping cream
1 quart fresh strawberries,
washed, hulled and sliced 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
It is advisable to use a stand mixer or a heavy-duty handheld mixer to make this dessert, as it requires lengthy beating.
In a large mixing bowl beat the egg whites at low speed until just foamy; add cream of tartar. Increase speed to medium-high and beat whites until they reach a soft peak stage, then begin adding the sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time. Continue gradually adding the sugar and beating until the meringue holds stiff peaks; beat in vanilla.
On a large parchment-lined baking sheet, gently spoon the meringue into two circles approximately six to eight inches in diameter (they should be about two inches thick).
Smooth out the meringue with a spatula and shape a shallow bowl in the centre of each circle. Bake at 275 degrees for about 45 minutes until the outside of the meringue is firm and dry to the touch. Turn off the oven; leave the meringue in the oven until it has cooled completely (or overnight).
Meanwhile place the sliced strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with the two tablespoons of sugar; let berries sit at room temperature for a couple of hours to release their juices, then refrigerate. When ready to serve the pavlova whip the cream and fill the centre of each circle with cream. Slice pavlova into wedges and place on dessert plates; spoon the berries and their juices over top. Makes eight servings.
