cooking for a group

when you’re strung on time

All fun and games of course, having a group of friends over for dinner. Stocking up your wine rack is easy,  it’ll take no more than half an hour, but prepping and entire meal, that takes a bit work. Especially when you are very busy. Because that is what we are right? Ideally I would just pull up a chair at someone else’s table. But hey, sometimes you have people over for dinner and you are just strung up on time. Here are a few tips to still cook a festive meal without having to slave away in the kitchen for hours.

– Drop by a poulterer, they have the best spit roasted chicken. Ready to eat. You can serve it hot or cold, but in case you opt for cold, have it pre-chopped. Great for salads with tomatoes, avocado and an egg.

– Make a huge pot of soup. Really, it’s not that difficult. Here’s a great recipe for a Thai pumpkin soup. Very filling. Add a salad as a side dish, or bread with a few different toppings. Drop by your local supermarket or street market, they usually have hummus straight out of the oven which you can buy.

– Casseroles are easy to make and you can make them as big as you’d like. Melanzane for example. It’s pretty much lasagna but without the dough. You know me. Here a great and easy recipe from Jamie.

– Drop by your local fish market, they always have meals prepped which are pretty much ready to go. Boiled shrimp, fried shrimp, mackerel… Easy products for great salads.

– It can be fun (especially for your guests) if they have to assemble their own meal. Think of wraps for example. All you have to do is buy different products (guaranteed that everyone will like something) and do a bit of chopping beforehand. So, buy wraps, grill some chicken, make some guac, slice some tomatoes, grab some salad, grated cheese and corn. For anyone who prefers fish, buy some mackerel, add a bit of rocket salade, cucumber and paprika. Or salmon and cream cheese. Enfin, this might not technically fall under the term ‘cooking’ but that doesn’t mean people won’t enjoy it.

– Make a huge pot of vongole pasta. A very chic dish but it doesn’t require more than half an hour in the kitchen. Once your mise en place (the preparations) are ready, it only takes a mere few minutes to cook.

What you need for 8 people

600 g of spaghetti

olive oil

1000 g of vongole

2 unions

4 garlic bulbs

2 red peppers

2 sprigs of parsley

150 ml of white wine

Wash the vongole with water and leave it to dry. Peel and chop the unions and the garlic bulbs into small pieces. Cook the spaghetti. Dice the red peppers into halves (lengthwise), dispose of any seeds, and then dice them into smaller pieces. Pluck and slice the parsley into small shreds. Pour a lug of olive oil into a pan and fry the unions, garlic and pepper. Add the vongole for a brief minute before extinguishing it with white wine. Cook the vongole’s until they open and mix it with the spaghetti and parsley. Add a touch of salt and pepper for some extra flavor. Tadaaa!

P.S. Add a handful of cherry tomatoes

Oh and if you have a couple extra minutes to spare, here some cute tips to set the table.