Last minute dinner guests and only time to nip to local shop…

[Dramaalpacas]

What would you make? Local shop is one of those small Tesco express shops. It’s got to be suitable for fussy kids but impressive and adult enough for someone I don’t know very well. I’m at a loss!

French bread,cold meats, crips and dips

Cheese and grapes, sausage rolls, quiche, salad.

Chinese takeaway

Thanks for the ideas! I’d rather have a hot meal.. and a bit healthier than a Chinese!

Eton mess for pud. Buy cream, meringues and soft fruits or frozen berries.
Nigella has a glazed sausage recipe. I can’t think of the exact name but should be ok for kids

Smoked salmon spaghetti with lemon and chives. Salad.
Pizza with carrot and cucumber sticks for kids.

Fajitas with all the extras so that people can select what they'd like and adults can make it spicier? Or chilli with extras (yoghurt, grated cheese, chillis etc) and baked potatoes and salad.

www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/filipino-style-chicken-adobo.html

This is yummy and once it’s all in the pan you don’t need to pay it much attention. I serve it with rice and steamed greens. Kids don’t have the sauce poured over the chicken on their plate

A big pasta hot pot thing with a nice salad and sides and crusty bread?

Spag bol garlic bread. At last min that's all id offer! Especially as limited to the express shop

Roast chicken drumsticks. Bbq sauce for the adults, plain if the kids are fussy. Serve with coleslaw and potato wedges.

Pasta with chicken, cream, tomatoes (ideally sun dried tomatoes but otherwise roast halved cherry tomatoes in the oven for 15 mins), rocket, fresh parsley or tarragon (dried if no fresh available) dried oregano, salt and pepper, serve with French bread, or make your own garlic bread with a French stick, garlic, butter and fresh parsley. Simple but tasty

Big ready made lasagne with garlic bread and a Bag of ready made salad.
Eton mess for dessert or buy a ready made lemon Tart with cream or cheesecake

I'd probably do something like gnocchi bake - chopped tinned tomatoes with fried garlic and onions, fresh basil if they have it or dried oregano if they don;t, with lots of mozzarella if they have it or cheddar and a bit of cream cheese if they don't. Black olives and chilli seeds on the side to pep it up for adults. Garlic bread.

Serve with salad on the side.
Icecream for pud.

Antipasti - olives, ham, chargrilled veg from a packet. baguette heated in oven if you want something hot.

And then pasta with whatever poshish sauce they have and a salad with added herbs.

Cheesecake and berries for pudding. You could heat frozen berries and pour them over the top if you want something hot.

They’ll have all this and you won’t have to do anything other than heat and arrange.

Agree with mozzarella tomato pasta bake as pp said. Can use fusilli if no gnocchi.

Risotto with bacon/lardons and peas is another option, can be tricky to cook for a crowd though so depends on numbers

Ice cream for pud with some posh biscuits

Spaghetti bolognese made from scratch with fresh spaghetti and parmigiano reggiano - not grana padano. Mince, chopped tomatoes, finely chopped red onion, 1 or 2 grated carrots, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and a slug of balsamic, and a beef stock cube.

Mozzarella balls with the nicest cherry tomatoes they have and fresh basil (our local crappy mini Sains usually has fresh basil) and extra virgin olive oil

If they have any fresh bread, that, served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or if they have the sort of garlic flatbread stuff, that.

Whatever haagen dazs is on offer today.

All of that would be available in our (have I mentioned?) crappy mini Sains.