8 people coming for dinner! Help needed!

losingpatience

Lasagne can be quicker to make if you prepare the bolognese the night before ( I think it always tastes nicer the next day in any case ) then you just have to make the white sauce on the day, layer it up and bung it in the oven. The white sauce takes minutes to make, but you can always cheat and buy a jar of white sauce if your unsure.

For starters I tend to cheat and buy a pack of those vacuum packed mussels in a white wine/garlic sauce, served with a sliced up buttered baguette to mop up the sauce. You could also try to do a stir fry for the main? That's easy and can be done quickly at the last minute.

Buddingblonde

The toasts could be hot or cold but the mushrooms have to be hot otherwise the cream will be a bit sickly (imo)

Depending on the rest of the menu you could use a french stick and cut it on the angle - like they do on the telly or in fancy restaurants but when I do it at home as a starter I buy a big crusty white loaf (like an asda hedgehog loaf) and cut it into slices about an inch thick - you can toast these straight on the oven shelf and can easily do all 8 in one go. You could drizzle them with olive oil before you toast them if you want.
That mushroom sauce is lovely with pasta or rice too.

poet123

I make salmon and spinach fishcakes seasoned with black pepper,served with a side salad and chilli dipping sauce as an easy starter.

Plum crumble and custard for dessert, slice and stone plums and cover with brown sugar, bake until softening, then cover with porridge oats, and bake a bit longer (will have to revisit the recipe but that is the jist) it is lovely with double cream too.

NJW69

For the mushroom on toasts starter I would soften the mushrooms either in olive oil or butter. Add a diced onion. When soft add some black pepper, a splash of balsamic vinegar and then a splash of single cream. You could slice everything before people get there and then cook just before serving. Should take about 5-7 minutes. I would serve on thin rounds of french bread and garnish with parsley. You could rub the bread with some garlic and grill or warm in the oven.

If you are doing chilli you can make it the day before and warm it up on the day. Two pounds of lean mince should do 8 people.

Dry fry the mince, add two diced carrots, three chopped sticks of celery, two chopped onions and cook until softened.

Add two tins of chopped tomatoes, two tins of kidney beans in chilli sauce, half a tube of tomato puree, some garlic, salt and pepper and simmer for an hour.

You can add either fresh or dried chillis, chilli sauce or chilli powder to get to the heat you want. Add it in small amounts and keep tasting. Add a small piece of dark chocolate for a rounded deep flavour.

Serve with steamed rice or jacket potatoes (probably easier if you're not sure) and the rest of the french bread.

I'd buy a dessert from Morrisons or Aldi etc and get some ice cream and cream to serve with it.

Hope you have a nice time.