Right... Here's the story: I'm home from uni, at the moment and last night my parents were slagging me for not being able to cook. So I challenged them that I'd cook dinner for them tonight. I'm going for a fairly full-scale italian number. I'm gonna have an 'antipasto' before people take their seats. I'm going to make bruschetta with whatever aperitif i can find in the house. This will be followed by a 'a primo', for which I'm gonna just give them a some tortellini. I'm having problems thinking what to cook for a 'secondo' (main course). It should really contain some kind of meat or fish, but I dunno. I'm gonna do a salad to go with it, then coffee with amaretto biscuits to finish. There'll be nice full-bodied red wine with the meal as well. Guys! I need some suggestions for my main course! Anyone italian by any chance? lol, cheers.
There weren't really strict guidelines, as long as it tastes good and looks like I've put some effort in, I don't really care.
I tried searching for a recipie but i couldn't remeber the name, i *think* this is it http://www.recipezaar.com/124056 we used a serloin, so didn't need to tenderise it.
Those look great actually. But seem to require 2 hour preperation, which I don't really have. Keep the ideas, coming! Found this: http://italianfood.about.com/blfeat.htm Now to pick the easiest, yet tastiest main course.
We'll I've decided that I'm gonna do meatballs with spinach for my main course. Really simple and relatively tasty. So the final lineup is: Antipasto Bruschetta with an aperitif Primo Tortellini. Secondo Italian Meatballs with Spinach w/ salad Final Fresh coffee with amaretto biscuits. Wish me luck!
I suppose now it's late for ideas, so here is an advice: the Tortellini have to be 'al dente', which means you should carefully check the boiling time. I'v noticed that boiling time printed on the packages are often too long, so my advice is to decrease the BT by 2 or 3 minutes and then start checking the consistency every 30 secs to avoid overcooking. Overdone Tortellini are like a sore in the eye Good luck !
Yum! Why not mix it up a bit? Do you need to have Italian for every course? I think I'm going to have tuna steaks tonight.... marinaded quickly in lemon juice and soy sauce, seared on a griddle for abuot 2 minutes each side. Serve with new potatoes and steamed asparagus and baby corn. seasonal + delicous
2 minutes! That's waaaaay too long for tuna. Blast the heat up as high as you like on your griddle then fritz them for 1 min each side, no more. Otherwise they'll get all dry and minky. Far better when they're just browned on the outside and still juicy in the middle. Mmmmm makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I know what I'm having for dinner tonight too now!
One think I cook alot: Tagliatelli, with scampi's in garlic-cream-sauce. (loads of scampi's) very simple but very very good. good luck
Just do what I did the other night when there was barely any food in the house... Half an onion, a load of mince 2x Oxo cubes, a cup of rice, 3 eggs... Fry the onions and the meat, boil the rice, whisk the 3 eggs, get the wok red hot, chuck the rice in there so it starts frazzling, add the 3 eggs, then when its suitably fluffy add all the cooked mince.... it was bleedin' delicious
