Dinner Party Menu Critique

[HairsprayBabe]

Hi all,
hosting a dinner party for 6 at the weekend, I don't want to spend forever in the kitchen whilst people are there. Three out of the six are veggie so I'm doing a veggie menu.

This is what I have come up with; would you be happy if you went to a dinner party and this was served?

Baked camembert, roasted veggies for dipping:)
Spinach and ricotta lasagne, garlic bread and salad
Chocolate mousse and shortbread

It's a bit cliche but yummy imo I want to impress our guests they are old pals of DP who I have only met a few times.

There will be olives for nibbles and I'll probably make a jug of cocktail as well!

[SheDoneAlreadyDoneHadHerses]

God yes!

I love all of the above and especially if it meant the hosts were more likely to be sat with me.

[ImYourMama]

Sounds perfect!

[SheDoneAlreadyDoneHadHerses]

Are you doing the camembert plain or stabbing holes in it and putting slivers of garlic and rosemary in?

[IloveCliveBixby]

Yum!

[YelloDraw]

Sounds great!

How about also some breadsticks for camembert dipping?

Some rasberries with the choc moose would lighten it up a bit too.

[Indiaplain]

Sounds good but I would be unsure about baked Camembert followed by ricotta in the lasagne, its a lot of cheese..

[anyoldname76]

its not for me as im not a fan of cheese, unless its a bit of mild cheddar. but im sure that your guests will love it

[HairsprayBabe]

Camembert will be herby with thyme, garlic and lemon zest,
Thought breadsticks might be nice but didn't want people too full too quickly, can always put them out anyway. There will be two in the middle of the table and it will be a sharing type starter.

It is a lot of cheese but they are very different cheeses so I don't think it will be too much of a cheesy overload, but I love cheese!

[Obviouspretzel]

It's fairly heavy with the cheese followed by cheese but not too much in my opinion.

I'd love that menu. And like someone else said, it should give you lots of time with your guests. There's nothing worse than someone trying to do something so challenging that they spend no time at the table. Yours can mainly be prepped in advance.

[Highlove]

Sounds great although as a PP says, that's two heavy cheese things. I'm also not entirely sure about roast veg with the starter - sorry that doesn't work for me. I think French bread works better, but does make it even heavier. Maybe some other sharing stuff might work instead - olives, houmous, baba ganoush, roast veggies..? Shouldn't add to the cost too much.

[Highlove]

Or make bruschetta to start which is dead simple and very cheap. Then go for chocolate pots and some sort of Italian-ish biscuits, and you can call it an Italian theme!

[icouldabeenacontender]

I'm a lover of cheese, but imo it's too cheese heavy.
Like Highlove's idea about adapting it a bit and making it Italian themed.

[Boleh]

I love baked Camembert but I'm not sure how you can use roast veggies for dipping, won't they go soft? Some sort of crackers and maybe some raw veg could work?
Otherwise it sounds fab! I'd agree with the person who said to top the mousse with a few fresh raspberries to cut through the richness a bit.

[OnyK]

Veggie here. It sounds good to me, but agree that's a lot of dairy in one meal.

I assume there's no gelatine in the dessert?

I've only dipped crudités and bread in Camembert; wouldn't roasted veg be a bit soft to dip?
I like the Italian theme suggested by Highlove...antipasti or bruschetta would be easy starters and afffagato for pudding.

[HairsprayBabe]

Roasted tenderstem and asparagus, but so it still has bite and you can pick it up, done it before works like a dream, might add some crudités to the mix for a bit more crunch.

Don't want a bread overload with pasta and bread for the main so I think ill skip the bruschetta

Lasagne only has one spinach and ricotta layer otherwise its super heavy, its layered like this:
Tomato and veggie sauce, pasta, spinach and ricotta, pasta, tomato and veggie sauce, pasta, cheesy top

Always serve my mousse with raspberries coulis to lighten it up a bit it's a Jamie Oliver recipe that never fails, and has no gelatine! I one of the veggies so I'm not about to serve a cow's foot jelly for pud! HA

[Boogers]

That sounds right nice! Can I come?

[Didiusfalco]

I would love to be served that - sounds perfect!

[HairsprayBabe]

Sure Boogers you might need to bring you own chair though!

[1frenchfoodie]

Sounds nice - was about to suggest fruit with pud to lighten it up a bit but then saw you will do raspberry couli. Perfect.

[ohidoliketobe]

I would be delighted with that (not veggie either). Sounds brilliant.

[HairsprayBabe]

Ah good it seems ok, might put some bread with the starter just in case some people are on the greedy side!

[idontlikealdi]

Sounds good to me but really think you need bread with the Camembert.

[PotteringAlong]

Sounds good to me!