Please help me plan the menu

risa_4-11-09

I'm hosting a mommy shower Thursday night and making Italian food. Please tell me what you would enjoy, I'm looking for 'crowd favorites' and Id love your opinion!

- homemade noodles with sauce (cream/tomato based)

- stuffed shells

- fettuccine Alfredo

- spaghetti and bolognese (sp?) sauce

I'm planning on making roasted garlic green beans and garlic bread to accompany and fried ravioli for an appetizer.

AustinMimi

I think most people like stuffed shells and they are less sloppy to eat than long pastas. I think a big lasagna would also be nice and not as messy for your guests. Ravioli are a great idea, too. 

I might add a caprese salad (tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella drizzled with olive oil, if you've never had it). It's delicious and refreshing in the summer! 

This is making me drool: http://romaexperience.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/caprese.jpg 

I have the Williams-Sonoma pasta cookbook and I love all of the recipes. Let me know if you want any of them. 

ThisGirlInAustin

Ditto Mimi on everything. Unless you're going to have a sit-down meal, I'd steer clear of long pastas. Lasagna, shells, ravioli, penne, farfalle, etc. are all less messy. I've seen caprese kabobs, which would also be easier to eat while mingling.  

OrangeFelt

For an appetizer - Caprese Salad!  Go and get a couple of tomatoes, a log of fresh mozzarella, and basil - just tear off the basil with a full leaf, slice the mozzerella and tomatoes, and stack them with the leaf on bottom, motz in the middle, tomato on top - drizzle with evoo and salt/pepper.

 

ETA: Just read Mimi's suggestion - great minds think alike? :P 

AustinBride06

Ditto the caprese salad, but drizzle some balsamic vinegar on it as well.  Makes a huge difference!

Also instead of noodley pasta, consider penne.  It does well with a variety of sauces and it's easier to eat.

If you want more finger foods, doing bruschetta is usually a winner!  Lots of different things you can do there.  You could do a make-your-own bruschetta bar where put out a few things like olive oil, pesto, roasted red peppers, diced tomatoes (Italian), cheese, etc.

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus is also super yummy.

gwynnetx

* drooling at the make-your-own bruchetta bar...yummmmmmm *

Jess.O

All pp have had great ideas!  I don't think you need all of the items you listed...they all sound delicious but I think you could narrow it down a little to make it easier on yourself.  I really don't think anyone would mind.  All in all, it sounds amazing and I think the pp gave great tips.