40th Surprise Birthday Party and Italian Pasta Night - 2015

Our Annual Italian Pasta Night dinner was held this past Saturday, it was also a combined 40th surprise birthday party for my oldest daughter.  And what a surprise it was, she made all the pasta!  It was a cucina pazzo (crazy kitchen) for a couple of days, but was so worth the time and effort to see 34 people sit down and enjoy a meal that was all homemade.  I had a lot of help from my daughters, nieces and my sister making all this food, without them I could never have done it on my own.

So here it is, Benvenuto! (Welcome), to our Italian Pasta Night Dinner/Birthday Party.

 We were very busy making braciole, meatballs and sauce.

 The birthday girl and my niece Kristin made the Lasagna noodles.

Here comes the 3 pans of lasagna, cheese and sauce.

 The appetizers - Two very large platters of anti pasta, mussels cooked in a white wine and garlic broth with tomatoes done on the grill, and homemade artisan pizzas on the grill. 

Homemade bruschetta, gotta have that on the appetizer table.

 Table set up for the drink bar.

 Next up were the salads - Panzanella, which got eaten before I could take a picture, and a deconstructed Caprese salad with balsamic glaze and a little olive oil.

 The sauces - red for lasagna, vodka and alfredo for the fettuccine - all homemade!

And the birthday girl concocted quite a few bottles of homemade Limoncello.  We also had a huge variety of Italian wines on hand to go with our meal.  Me on the other hand, stayed with the Italian Cream Soda's.  They were delicious by the way, like dessert in a glass, refreshing and not too sweet.

  So the theme I picked was white, blue and yellow for the party.  We couldn't really decorate for a surprise party, because my daughter was here the whole time making pasta and other food.  I tried to keep it simple with a little bit of a Tuscan feel. I used blue delphinium, baby's breath and fresh herbs from my garden for small vases of flowers to use on the tables.  I also had black lanterns, votive cups with white candles, and ran lemon leaves and lemons, all the way down the center of 7 tables that were covered with white tablecloths.  The picture frames have Italian sayings with the English meanings that I set up going down the tables.  Italian torrone candies were also scattered throughout the tables.  I used white china plates and paper lemon decorated napkins with my everyday flatware.

 This is a photo from one end of the table to the other.  Lots of mixed up chairs, but that is all I had to use, so my goal is to have all matching chairs by next year.  Fortunately for me the weather cooperated, it was a beautiful day and a lovely evening.

 San Pellegrino Sparkling Water, plain and flavored.  I also used plunger type canning bottles with chalkboard labels for lemon water.  For dessert I purchased blue, white and lemon decorated paper plates and used yellow plastic forks.

 Oh No, The Big 40!  On the dessert menu for the birthday girl - Italian Rum Birthday Cake.....

Ricotta Cookies, made by my niece Tara, they were so good there are none left!  There were seven dozen, you can't eat just one.....

 and of course a delicious Tiramisu, it was fantastico!

So there is our party, hope you enjoyed all the pictures.  It was such a fun night and everyone had a wonderful time.  There is nothing better than sitting down to a meal with family and friends.  I am already planning for next year!

Express Lasagna!

I was in Wegmans the other day and found these Delverde no boil lasagna noodles.  I have been making "no boiling the noodles" lasagna for a very long time, with regular lasagna noodles.  So I thought I would give these a try.  I buy a lot of this brand because my family loves it.  The noodles (they are actually sheets) also come with two aluminum foil trays!  I was so surprised when I opened the package, because I didn't read it, oops.  This lasagna took less than 10 minutes to prepare and then bakes for about 45 minutes, so it's not too time consuming like making it the old fashioned way.  

Start with your favorite homemade or jarred sauce and the noodles.  Use an 8 x 8 baking dish, they fit in it perfectly.  Spray the pan with cooking spray and ladle a layer of sauce in the bottom.  Start building the lasagna with the noodles on the bottom then..... 

 A layer of ricotta cheese with some of your favorite Italian cheeses....

 You will have a layer of noodles and cheese, and another, and another, to make 3 layers.  Top with sauce and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  The last 5 minutes sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on top and let melt in the oven.  TIP: I put my baking dish on a baking sheet so no messes in the oven if anything spills over.  All done and ready to be served.

Half the pan is gone already and we just sat down to eat!

Express Lasagna

1 pkg. of Delverde Instant Lasagna Noodles

1 32 oz. container of ricotta cheese (whole or skim milk is fine)

4 eggs

1/4 cup of dried parsley flakes

Salt and Pepper

1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese

3 cups of homemade pasta sauce or jarred sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the ricotta cheese with the eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, 1/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese and the pecorino romano cheese, set aside.  Spread 1 1/2 cups of sauce in the bottom of a baking dish (or use the foil pans that come with the noodles).  Put a layer of noodles over the sauce. Add 1/3 of the ricotta cheese and spread to the corners.  Keep layering, you should have enough cheese to make three layers with the noodles.  Top with the sauce and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  The last 5 minutes, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese over the top and let it melt in the oven.  Remove from oven and let the lasagna sit for about 15 minutes so the cheeses set, before cutting.