What to serve with pasta entrees?

[Dina]

I'm fixing to throw my very own Pampered Chef party for friends, family and co-workers. My friend and I will be presenting with a pasta dish but we'd like to serve other sides and desserts to compliment with the main course? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[Alix]

It would help to know what kind of pasta sauce Dina.

Off the top of my head I would suggest some kind of veggie thing. Maybe proscuitto wrapped asparagus spears? Some crispy cheese stick appys?

Dessert should maybe be light too. Fruit sorbet? To cleanse the palate and to be sweet.

 

[Piccolina]

If the pasta dish is an Italian one you could keep the theme going through out the side dishes and dessert. Perhaps sides like baked polenta sqaures with melted cheese on top, lightly sauteed zuchini and mushrooms in garlic and olive oil as side dishes and something like tiramisu, zabaglione or fruit poached in spiced wine for dolce (dessert)

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[buckytom]

my first thought was bread. i know it's carb overload, but it's all about texture to go with the pasta.

how about bruschetta like tapas? you could do the standard raw garlic, chopped tomato, evoo, and basil on toasted slices of italian bread.

but you could expand it from there and get creative with the toppings for the crostini. smoked fish and cream cheese, melted cheeses atop diced blanched veggies, thin sliced duck breast over dressed micro greens, butter dipped shaved filet mignon and shallots, black olive tapenade and buffala mozzarella, etc..

 

[GB]

my first thought was salad, but man does that sound boring compared to everyone else's great suggestions!

 

[kimbaby]

corn on the cobb, garlic bread,nice garden salad...

 

[RMS]

I always serve the old stand-bys with pasta, Italian bread and Salad.
Might be boring but it makes a nice meal.
For dessert, How about cookies.

 

[Piccolina]

my first thought was salad, but man does that sound boring compared to everyone else's great suggestions!

Not per se GB, salads can be fantastic too. Perhaps some raddichio or endive with olives and sun dried tomatoes or something green and burtsing with flavour that has an Italian-ness to it

 

[buckytom]

ok, on salads, but not just a bowl of greens: fill some leaves of endive, which are like scoops, with goat cheese blended with fresh herbs, like a boursin cheese (or just use boursin) and finely chopped nuts, others with ricotta and chopped prosciutto or sopressatta, still others with cream cheese and sun dried tomatoes. arrange on a plate in concentric rings, sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper, and drizzle with a young, flavorful evoo.

man, am i getting hungry.

 

[amber]

Like others have mentioned, I think a salad and garlic bread go great with pasta dishes. Maybe creme brulee for dessert?

 

[Dina]

Buckytom,
I love your suggestions about some bruschetta to go with our Italian theme! I'm definitely going with that. Thanks Buckytom!

GB,
Thanks! Salad is totally on my plans. I was thinking of some baby greens salad with roasted nuts, mandarine slices, with a raspberry/pecan dressing. Would that throw off the whole Italian theme, you think? I might have to stick to a sun dried tomato vinaigrette with some black olives.

Kimbaby,
Do you have an Italian recipe for corn-on-the-cob? I love corn and if I can convert it in an Italian side, that would work.

RMS,
By any chance would you have any Italian cookie recipes? Thanks for your suggestion.

Amber,
Creme brulee (flan) is one of my favorites. I might do that with a bit of side fruit and light whipping cream to lighten it up a bit. Thanks a lot.

 

[Dina]

Just found out my friend is making something called Antipasta Chicken and Veggie Pizza. Wow! That's not what I was expecting but, oh well. I will use my Pampered Chef tart pan - only thing is I need an Italian style tart recipe. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[buckytom]

do you mean a dessert tart dina?

if so , lemme see if i can find a recipe for "fruitti di bosco".

gotta run for work right now, brb.

 

[kitchenelf]

I was thinking of some baby greens salad with roasted nuts, mandarine slices, with a raspberry/pecan dressing. Would that throw off the whole Italian theme, you think?

I hope this comes out right and I don't sound like a "know-it-all" because I truly know nothing!!! But the sweet, to me anyway, doesn't seem to go with a tomato sauce. I could be wrong so don't shoot the messenger

When I think tomato sauce/pasta dish I think more along the lines of a tomato vinaigrette, or a red wine vinaigrette, or just a good old fashioned Italian - dry mustard, all the proper Italian herbs/spices, etc, garlic, parmesan cheese, etc. Whatever dressing you make just give it the whole day for the flavors to blend.

 

[buckytom]

BANG!!!!

i totally and respectfully disagree elfie. i love sweet things as a side to a tart tomato sauce, like a sweet salad as an antipasti, or sweet wine like a white zin to cut into and/or offset the acidity. but maybe that's just me.

 

[kitchenelf]

lol bucky - let's just get together and have a cook-off - what's the worst that could happen?

 

[Alix]

I volunteer to judge that cook off!

 

[buckytom]

dina, i couldn't find a good tart recipe for frutti di bosco, but here's what you can do.

a frutti di bosco tart is essentially a tart pastry, filled with zabaglione (custard), and topped with fresh berries, and then drizzled with a simple syrup wash.

ingredients:

fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries (sliced), etc. whatever fresh berries are available
tart pastries or shells
melted sugar mixed with a little water to thin

for the zabaglione:
4 egg yolks
i tbsp marsala wine or sweet wine
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps warm water
2 tbsps mascarpone cheese

combine eggs, wine, water and sugar in a bowl over a bain marie (simmering water bath), and whip for about 5 minutes. fold in the mascarpone cheese to incorporate.

fill the tart shells with the zabaglione, gently top with mixed fresh berries, brush or drizzle tops with the sugar syrup until covered, chill to let it set up.

 

[buckytom]

lol elfie, id' love to but you'd blow me out of the water...

i hate losing, but if it first of all meant getting to meet you, and then getting to eat what you've cooked, i might have to swallow my pride as well as all of your good cooking.

 

[Alix]

Um....buckytom? How about you make that tart and let kitchenelf make the main course? Best of both worlds!

BTW, copied and pasted that recipe. YUM!