can anyone suggest a recipe to feed around 16 people on holiday?

[nowwearefour]

we have been worrying about this for a year now! we are going away with a large group, tradition s that each family prepares one meal for everyone one night. there is an aga at the house we will be staying in. anyone any ideas of what to cook?

lasagne/garlic bread/salad

couple of large roast chickens with potatoes and veg or new potatoes and salad

spaghetti bolognnaise and garlic bread, dead easy for that number. You could even make it in advance

Or pizzas and salad

Big pot of chilli - crusty bread and a shed load of rice

Sausage and mash with veggies.

If you bake the sausages you can cram loads into a roasting tin.

potato ricer takes the slog out of mashing the potatoes

M and S meringues with strawberries and cream, or a chocolate fountain with fruit kebabs.

HTH

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Fajitas or Enchiladas with salad?

last year we had a new bubba so were excused. but the quality of the food was excellent. i am quite taken by some of these ideas already- thank you!

curry with rice
any type of roast
anythign really. just whatevr you would do for less people, but mmore of it.

soup with fresh bread?

Need to find out: any allergies, any veggies, any fussy eaters.

If all normal then:

Big pan of chilli served with jackets/rice/tortillas/green salad etc. Get the tequila out and pop on the mexican salsa music

Meatballs and pasta! Homemade fresh meatballs, tom sauce and spag with big bowl of freshly grated cheese, garlic bread and salad for people to help themselves. Few bottles of sparkly water/red wine on the table and it is a party!

3 Big casserole pots with jackets/rice/new pots and veggies. Handy if you are not sure if any are veggie or dislike spicy. Could then do a creamy and white wine chicken one, a pork sweet and sour and a veggie version.

Homemade pizzas - great if lots of kids are around and can help decorate them with various toppings to order. Could set up a little menu board of extra toppings and get people to preorder their half of a pizza.

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Thanks I love the paella idea and the layered lebanese dish ideas. As well as a roast and chilli ideas. My husband doesnt like pasta (i know is weird) which is a pain!

Last time we did this, I made a gigantic Irish stew. It was brilliant (says she modestly) because there were lots of babies and very little children, and they ate the potatoes and carrots and gravy so it fed everyone.

The I did 2 big plates (one sweet one savory) with lots of delicious things - chocolates, cherries, posh biscuits, savory biscuits with cheese and gentlemen's relish and so on for people to pick at instead of a pudding. REALLY really easy!

this use chicken thighs, serve with new potatoes and green salad.

Fish pie with salmon and white fish (and prawns?) in a good creamy white sauce topped with mashed potato, grated cheese on top. Everyone loves this - and serve with green veg -fine green beans, peas, broccoli.

I had just come on here to post about the very same thing, there'll be 22 of us and I have a few tricks up my sleeve but I am panicking, some fab ideas on here though thanks everyone!

if you have a BBQ to hand, butterfly a leg of lamb and whack it on the grill, make a tub of couscous and a vegetarian tagine in a casserole dish.....dips like humous and tzaziki with pita to start/on the side

Nigella's one pan chicken (chicken portions, new potatoes, garlic cloves, veggies like courgette, peppers etc covered in oil and some lemon if you fancy it) would be good and simple to do, and serve it with some crusty bread.

With an Aga, the easiest thing is to make a stew/casserole plus baked potatoes.

In the morning, brown the meat then add all other ingredients. Bring it to boil on the hot plate, then bung it into the oven (on a 4 door Aga I think you'd do this in the bottom right) and leave all day! Chuck in the baked potatoes an hour and half before you want them. And hey presto.

Also good and easy would be sausages as someone said above. Just bung them in the big roasting tray and in the top oven for at least 40 minutes to get all nice and sticky.

You just need to make sure all the pots and pans are big enough for this amount.

Btw, don't rely on the Aga for HOT hot heat, ie frying a steak to perfection. Try and do everything in the oven.

My mother makes something called 'Basque Chicken', which I think is in Delia's Summer Cooking book.

It's basically a rice dish a la paella, but not, with chicken, peppers and chorizo. She makes it in a big Le Creuset (sp?) in the bottom right of the Aga.