Any ideas for bung in the oven one dish wonder for 20ish people after our dd's christening lunch?

[babycheesus]

I am thinking a pasta dish, or shepherds pie, or or chicken and broccoli bake or the like, just wondered if anyone had any favourite cook in advance recipies?

Shepherd's pie sounds good.
Lasagna?

Lasagna would be nice with a big green salad and some garlic bread

chilli and baked spuds

Shepherd's pie made with proper minced amb and pancetta with a layer of carrot mash and then a layer of potato mash on top. Served with peas.

Lasagne is a bit motorway service station.

veal stew with roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic

yep - a fantastic one with pre-cooked chicken in it, you assemble it with a couple of cans of chicken or mushroom soup, mayo, lemon juice and a teaspoon of curry powder, bung it all in a huge dish, sprinkle grated cheese over the top and throw some croutons on just to impress the guests. That with a huge pan of rice would do the job nicely No major fuss to prepare either. we had to host a dinner party when our third child was a mere three weeks old (xmas, dont ask) and this saved my sanity

A good lasagna is heavenly. Comforting and rich and with crisp lettuce leaves. Yummy.

Deffo Nigellas sausage and chicken thingy from Feast - sausages, mustard, lemon, chicken pieces, worcestershire sauce, some other stuff, leave in bags in fridge over night, bake, serve with baby spuds & salad / mash & greens / bread & roasted tomatoes, whatever.

I'll look it up if you want more detail, but I'm stealth MN-ing just now under the guise of checking emails (I promised to be frugal this weekend) so I can't go hoicking out cookbooks or he'll suss and watch fishing shows (his 'do-without')

You're very brave, catering for that many.

stovies, homemade soup or lasagne

my friends did a couple of roast chickens and just carved them up with some nice bread and salady things and coleslaw - that was nice too

shepherd's pie was what I thought before opening thread.

Would have to be a mahoosive dish tho.

And do lots of veg with it to eke it out.

Or lasagne. Harder to make tho and not as yummy.

shep pie I like with cheese in the mash and then more on top, and loads of veg in the meat (mushrooms, carrots, leeks as well as toms and onions yummmmmy)

I though tit had to be one pot.

a huge pan of soup and loads of lovely bread and cheese

that nigella thing sounds good

LOL at stealth MN-ing. DH not back yet so I'm being brazen (to nobody at all )

I second Chilli - do a veggi one as well. Rice, salad and baked spuds.

Can I come?

Chilli in a big pot on the stove top, spuds in the oven, green salad, french bread, grated cheese and some butter. Sorted.

My lasagne is far from service station, I'll have you know!
My Mum and I did Beef Stroganoff for ds4's christening but didn't start early enough, so it was still cooking when guests arrived. MIL put on a face like a lemon, went on about FIL being hungry (he was fine!) and served the side-salads to everyone!

god, don't you just love MILs sometimes, I bet Lorax that she wasn't helping out during the process, only once all up and running for show?!?

What about mango chicken? Easy Peasy to make and very impressive.

Throw uncooked cubed chicken and some halved shallots into a massive casserole dish. I also bulk it up with some mushrooms. Mix a jar of mango chutney (for your numbers, probably 2) with some single cream. Pour over chicken, and cook at about 180 in the oven for 45 minutes.

Serve with couscous scattered with toasted nuts (pine nuts, almonds etc) and ready chopped apricots. You can make the cous cous in advance, as it doesn't matter if it cools down a bit.

Come back from Christening, lift casserole out of the oven, and bathe in a warm domestic glow.

Thank you for great suggestions - have found recipe for a moroccan shepherds pie with spices which I think I will go for and maybe a bolognese for the 12 little ones that are coming! then garlic bread and salad so think Im sorted - or a chilli and baked spuds that was inspired!

Hi
For our DD's I made a chilli and a mousakka - although depending on your guests this will go down really well . . or . . Let's just say that it was divided between my family and the in-laws, those that loved it and wanted seconds, and those that loathed. For the next one . . we may eat out!
Friends of mine also cooked a slow-roast-pork casserole which was very nice and fed loads of people.
Good luck x

That mango chicken dish sounds divine. Can you use chicken pieces (eg legs and thighs)?

Also any ideas of amount. A jar of mango chutney to a pot of single cream? Would that be right?

The mango chicken would be lovely with legs & thighs. I've always done a tall pot of single cream (250 ml) to one jar of chutney, but you may want to play around with the quantities to suit your taste. The other thing I do is to mix my chutneys - Tesco do a lovely mango chutney by Geeta somebody, and I combine this with the Sharwoods one. It's a little spicier than the usual mango chutney. I'm also sure it's possible to make it healthier by using an alternative to cream, but I haven't tried it.