Two girlfriends and I decided to put our cooking skills to good use and prepare a Saturday night Italian feast for ourselves and the very lucky boyfriends (who simply had to turn up). Can I just say now how fortunate I am to have friends who have the skills and passion to pull together a night like last night? Delizioso! A dinner party combines pretty much all of my favourite things - good food, good wine, good conversation, great laughs. The only things missing are travel and karaoke...
My responsibility was for the first third - aperitif, appetisers and entree. Debut for the Silver Spoon!
Vodka Rosemary Spiked Lemonade Fizz
Bring 1C lemon juice, 1C sugar and 2 sprigs of rosemary to the boil in a pan stirring constantly, simmer for 2 minutes and leave to cool. Add syrup to a glass with ice, vodka and top with soda. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs.
My note: the longer you leave the rosemary in the syrup the stronger it tastes/smells. I left it in for four hours before serving and I thought it was excellent
Roast Eggplant and Capsicum Dip
Roughly chop 1 medium sized eggplant, 1 medium onion and 1 large red capsicum, toss in oil, salt and pepper, and roast until soft. Roughly mash and serve with crostini.
My note: I roasted for quite a while until everything stated to caramalise. Also, I don't have a masher (will have to remedy that) so I just roughly chopped.
Gorgonzola, Rocket and Walnut Crostini
Finely chop a good handful of rocket, roughly chop half a cup of walnuts, crumble in some gorgonzola and mix together. Press down firmly on crostini and bake in oven until cheese starts to melt.
Stuffed Eggplant
In a large pan, cook one well sliced medium onion on a low heat until soft with some olive oil. Slice three eggplants in half lengthwise, scoop out flesh and roughly chop. Chop four tomatoes and two large red capsicums and add to pan with eggplant. Cook over a low heat until all are soft. Remove from heat and add two lightly beaten eggs. Spoon mixture back into eggplant shells, sprinkle with parmesan and bake in oven until golden brown on top.
My note: it's really hard to scoop out the flesh of the eggplant without puncturing the shell. After several minutes of attempting with a breakfast spoon I remembered that I had a melon baller - eureka!
Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus, Celery and Grissini
This one is very simple - wrap prosciutto around the top of your spears/sticks and serve
My notes: choose slightly thicker asparagus spears and what ever you do, don't over cook them. Plunge hot asparagus into ice-cold water straight from the pot to ensure they don't droop. I had very thin asparagus so had to wrap two spears at a time to avoid the dreaded droop.
As I am a bread-making virgin, I purchased my grissini - cross your fingers that they aren't all broken inside the packet. Don't wrap the prosciutto around the grissini too far in advance because they will go soft - mine started to go soft around one hour after wrapping (luckily most had been eaten).
Also, as prosciutto can be quite expensive, you can get two sticks from every slice.
I'm embarrassed to say that I forgot to take photos of the succulent lamb or the perfect focaccia (home made of course) - I was far more concerned with eating, drinking and chatting by the time I had dispatched my goodies. Sophie laid a beautiful table (she took some great photos for her blog - none of mine came out that well) and was hostess-with-the-mostest as usual.
Laura's focaccia was so perfect it was like store bought - she's going to give me a bread-making lesson as I've never tried to make anything which resembles pastry/bread/dough. Stay tuned for that adventure - it sounds messy!
Menu for an Italian Feast
Aperitif
vodka rosemary spiked lemonade fizz
Appetisers
prosciutto-wrapped asparagus spears, celery and grissini
gorgonzola, rocket and walnut crostini
Entree
stuffed eggplant
Main
roast lamb shoulder with potatoes, cannelloni, green spinach salad and olive focaccia
Dessert
panna cotta with berry coulis
Sweet treat
chocolate truffles, espresso slice
Liquid refreshment
Mumm champagne, French and Australian red wine, cinnamon and rose tea
My responsibility was for the first third - aperitif, appetisers and entree. Debut for the Silver Spoon!
Vodka Rosemary Spiked Lemonade Fizz
Bring 1C lemon juice, 1C sugar and 2 sprigs of rosemary to the boil in a pan stirring constantly, simmer for 2 minutes and leave to cool. Add syrup to a glass with ice, vodka and top with soda. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs.
My note: the longer you leave the rosemary in the syrup the stronger it tastes/smells. I left it in for four hours before serving and I thought it was excellent
Roast Eggplant and Capsicum Dip
Roughly chop 1 medium sized eggplant, 1 medium onion and 1 large red capsicum, toss in oil, salt and pepper, and roast until soft. Roughly mash and serve with crostini.
My note: I roasted for quite a while until everything stated to caramalise. Also, I don't have a masher (will have to remedy that) so I just roughly chopped.
Gorgonzola, Rocket and Walnut Crostini
Finely chop a good handful of rocket, roughly chop half a cup of walnuts, crumble in some gorgonzola and mix together. Press down firmly on crostini and bake in oven until cheese starts to melt.
Stuffed Eggplant
In a large pan, cook one well sliced medium onion on a low heat until soft with some olive oil. Slice three eggplants in half lengthwise, scoop out flesh and roughly chop. Chop four tomatoes and two large red capsicums and add to pan with eggplant. Cook over a low heat until all are soft. Remove from heat and add two lightly beaten eggs. Spoon mixture back into eggplant shells, sprinkle with parmesan and bake in oven until golden brown on top.
My note: it's really hard to scoop out the flesh of the eggplant without puncturing the shell. After several minutes of attempting with a breakfast spoon I remembered that I had a melon baller - eureka!
 |
| Melon baller makes eggplant scooping a breeze |
Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus, Celery and Grissini
This one is very simple - wrap prosciutto around the top of your spears/sticks and serve
My notes: choose slightly thicker asparagus spears and what ever you do, don't over cook them. Plunge hot asparagus into ice-cold water straight from the pot to ensure they don't droop. I had very thin asparagus so had to wrap two spears at a time to avoid the dreaded droop.
As I am a bread-making virgin, I purchased my grissini - cross your fingers that they aren't all broken inside the packet. Don't wrap the prosciutto around the grissini too far in advance because they will go soft - mine started to go soft around one hour after wrapping (luckily most had been eaten).
Also, as prosciutto can be quite expensive, you can get two sticks from every slice.
 |
| Prosciutto and dip |
I'm embarrassed to say that I forgot to take photos of the succulent lamb or the perfect focaccia (home made of course) - I was far more concerned with eating, drinking and chatting by the time I had dispatched my goodies. Sophie laid a beautiful table (she took some great photos for her blog - none of mine came out that well) and was hostess-with-the-mostest as usual.
Laura's focaccia was so perfect it was like store bought - she's going to give me a bread-making lesson as I've never tried to make anything which resembles pastry/bread/dough. Stay tuned for that adventure - it sounds messy!
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