Three course lunch menu- can people rate / comment?

[ComeTheSpringLobelia]

Hi everyone,

I am hosting about 7 people for lunch later this week. I am a good cook, but a nervous and anxious hostess.

The guests like good food. The only dietary need is to avoid fish. I would prefer to do as much prep the day before that I can. These people are my friends- and also all good cooks - but I would like to prepare something decent for them.

This is my current plan;

• Tuscan bean soup- although largely broth based and a clear soup so it is lighter than a pottage
• Lasagne with spinach and butternut squash in the meat sauce as well
• Green salad with a lemon dressing (usually I also put sliced pears and walnuts in my salads, but am undecided)
• Ice cream sundaes- just for fun. Vanilla and chocolate ice cream with chocolate fudge sauce, mini marshmallows and topped with crushed nuts.

I am considering dumping the soup for nibblies over champagne. If so then they would be bought in and maybe devilled eggs which are my favourite things ever.

In the past (precovid days!) I have always served chicken as I am comfortable with that. But this time I thought something else.

Grateful for thoughts!!

I would love this menu for lunch. Do you have a link to the soup recipe please?

Thoughts:
Whilst pear and walnuts in the salad sound lush (noted for my own future reference!!) I think it will detract from the lovely sounding lasagne so would just go with the green dressed salad as a side. Or you could serve the salad with the pear and walnuts as a starter and just serve the lasagne on its own with some bread?

Ice cream sundae sounds a perfect way to end this mea. Possible tweaks: provide a variety of sauces (eg fruit; caramel; chocolate) and a variety of toppings & ice cream flavours plus whipped cream and let people build their own?

All sounds great but you might be right about ditching the soup for a couple of canapes/devilled eggs as soup plus lasagne for lunch seems a lot (unless you're serving tiny portions)

I'd be happy with pears and walnuts in the salad too.

Pear and lasagne together would be a big no from me (lovely as the pear salad sounds - just not with lasagne).

Bean soup could also be quite filling - you might get away with it at dinner, but for lunch it could be a bit much as a pre-cursor to lasagne. Maybe go for pear/walnut salad as a starter instead? Perhaps with a bit of blue cheese?

I would probably serve something lighter than lasagne for lunch - a big pasta-rich dish in the middle of the day would be too much for me, I think, plus lunch should be a more informal meal, IMO, so not having your host jumping up and down between courses.

When I'm catering for a large group, I tend to go for a Middle Eastern / Greek-style mezze, which can be altered to suit the season - I did this recently and served pulled roasted lamb as the 'centrepiece' with sides such as dolmades, tabbouleh, tzatziki, roasted cauliflower, flatbreads etc.

Ditch the soup, nice canapés instead. A simpler salad for the main too.
Cheesecake or something for dessert? Can prep in advance and literally plate up for ease.

www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/tuscan-bean-soup/

this is more or less the soup.. I use chicken stock, and very few beans- more as a garnish really. also no cabbage!!

I'd rather skip the soup and have nibbles over champagne...anti pasti type stuff.

Your salad sounds amazing but I agree with PPs that it might be too many flavours with the lasagne if you have pear and walnut in there too.

Do you definitely need three courses? The soup sounds good but I would happily just have soup at lunchtime, never mind the other stuff.

ice cream is amazing :)

*nibbles with champagne

It’s a lot of heavy food for lunch. Just do 2 courses, no need for nibbles.

I don't think it sounds like too much heavy food at all. I'd stick with the three courses, put the walnuts and pears in the salad - but I think the devilled eggs and canapes do sounds nicer than the soup!

I think that sounds great. I agree with pp, I’d go with canapés and just a simple green salad with the lasagne. I do like the make your own ice cream sundae. Just make sure it’s really good quality ice cream. Have a good day!

Soup is out. :)

I might do simple canapes then. Not enough to destroy appetites.

The ice-cream flavours are dull. I don't like chocolate (or strawberry) so I'd be left withe most boring flavour ever, something like honeycomb or fudge would be good.

Canapés, lasagne with a simple salad, and ice cream sundaes sounds lovely to me.
Pear and walnut salad sounds like a good idea but agree with poster above, might not work well with the lasagne.

I'd serve that salad as the starter and homemade focaccia with the lasagna. Shop bought nibbles to start (I'd go with antipasti and cocktail sticks) lidl had them in the specials aisle on Saturday)

I love your menu OP, and would be equally happy with the soup or nibbles

I would politely decline the dessert.

Agree canapés are the way to go

Ina Garten did lovely whipped feta and tomato crostini which I think would go really nicely

In fact, for dessert I'd be tempted by affogato - a much more sophisticated (and Italian!) version of a sundae I guess

Meze starter.
Either a spinach lasagne or a meat one, not a meat one with butternut squash in.Green salad.
Poach the pears in white wine for pud, serve with an amaretti cream.

No to pears in the salad with lasagne and I’d swap out the walnuts for pine nuts.

I think lasagne is a great lunch dish, especially with a big leafy green salad.

I’d avoid sundaes just because it’s time in the kitchen prepping. Cheese cake or similar might be better.

I love the mezze idea, and just maybe a few bowls of nuts/crisps with the champagne. We often do this for lunch, nearly everything by can be prepped beforehand and no jumping up and down as a host. Affogato to finish also sounds great, one of my favourites as I don’t really have a sweet tooth.

If you want to stick with lasagne, I would say skip the soup for nibbles, then either butternut squash/spinach, or meat. It’s too many flavours and will be too stodgy with both. Crisp green salad with vinaigrette would be nice (also some people are fussy about hot dishes and salad, not me though!).

I’d avoid sundaes just because it’s time in the kitchen prepping. Cheese cake or similar might be better.

Not if you lay out bowls of sauces/toppings and people help themselves. Saves wastage if some people don't want much. If you have freezer space, you could open freeze scoops of ice cream in a couple of shallow serving dishes and only bring out 2nd or 3rd dish if needed

Or, if you know everyone likes coffee, you could offer Affogato after the lasagne in keeping with the Italian theme

Your menu sounds lovely. You could go with just vanilla ice cream with toppings and some strawberries/raspberries/fruit salad for folk who’d rather not have ice cream, or who might like a lighter dessert.

Sounds nice, but I’d ditch the heavy soup for canapés. I’d also keep the salad just green - no pear or walnuts needed. I’d add pine nuts instead.

Ice cream sundaes would not appeal to me. I’d rather have a light cheesecake (I do a lime one which is hugely popular and no baking involved) or panna cotta.