Sunday lunch panic!

[Dorsetcamping]

We have friends coming for lunch this weekend and I'm stressing about what to cook. Am
Sure they will be expecting a roast but the thought of doing one for more than 5/6 people brings me out in a cold sweat! There will be 9 of us.

So looking for ideas (main and pud) that is hearty/Sunday lunch worthy but either preppable on Saturday or really straightforward to do on Sunday.
My mind is blank!

Thanks!

Beef casserole with crusty bread & butter followed by lemon tart or meringue.

For main, I’d do a pie (or a couple of I was feeling ambitious) with mash, veg and gravy.

Easy but nice pudding would a chocolate self saucing one with posh ice cream.
www.farmersgirlkitchen.co.uk/nigellas-sticky-chocolate-pudding/

My go To

www.nigella.com/recipes/one-pan-sage-and-onion-chicken-and-sausage

Perfect with mash or small roasties & green vegetables.

Syrup sponge & custard for pudding?

I would do Greek slow-roasted leg of lamb with potatoes. It cooks itself.

This is a Rick Stein version.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2205641/microwave-sponge-pudding

Maybe a casserole with mashed potatoes (made the day before and put into a microwavable serving dish to heat up before lunch; may be just me but I find washing up a saucepan starchy from cooking potatoes a chore. Best to get it done before).
Carrots cooked the day before (maybe in orange juice with orange zest if you're feeling keen) and reheated in a glaze (honey or maple syrup with mustard or cumin perhaps), frozen peas (or French peas: braised with lettuce and onions in stock and reheated in serving dish).

Nigella's quick sticky toffee pudding www.nigella.com/recipes/easy-sticky-toffee-pudding made the day before up to the point before you pour the water over. Then, on the day, add water and cook. Serve with cream/ice cream.

Hope that gives some ideas - good luck!

How about really good sausages with mash and onion gravy. You can make the mash and gravy in advance to heat up if you prefer to get it out of the way. Then just need to make accompanying vegetables on the day.

Thank you all.
Must admit the beef casserole option sounds appealing. Any particular recipes?

Google felicity cloake perfect stew. With dumplings makes i5 a bit different.

Slow cooker casserole

I don’t follow a recipe as such but I’ve been keeping it simple so far this autumn as my dc prefer it.

Diced beef (I dice in to very small chunks), onion, leek, carrots, sometimes some whole small potatoes, 1/2 bottle of red wine (or ale, or stout) 1 1/2 pints boiling water (or beef/veg stock if I have any), couple of grinds of garlic salt, ground pepper, rosemary & thyme. Slow cooker on medium for minimum 5 hours or low overnight. I do simple dumplings: suet & flour (half the amount of suet to flour) pinch of rosemary, thyme & pepper & water to make the dough usually 2-3 tablespoons then put them in for the last hour on high. I thicken the gravy with cornflour if necessary. I normally serve either spring greens or cauliflower & broccoli on the side.

I virtually only cook out of one cookbook these days: The Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer. I tend to just do two of her one-tin dishes for people coming over with a big green salad and loads of crusty bread. There's a sausage, red onion and sweet potato traybake that's good, and also one with chicken, fennel and new potatoes I think. They're always a good combo, but lots of veggie options in there too.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/beef-vegetable-casserole

I like this recipe, I add in a load of red wine. It actually works very nicely with chicken and also with sausages.

Big pot of sausage bean casserole with carrots, red onion cooked in. Serve with broccoli and peas and crusty warmed bread (and wine!)

All of those sound nice. I do a cheats pie. So cook your beef in red wine etc then put a sheet or two of ready made and rolled puff pastry in the oven, brushed with milk. When golden, slice into squares(pizza wheel is good for this) and place on top of the serving of casserole etc.

You can even cook the pastry early and reheat.