Great Italian Themed Party Buffet

Have a few ladies over (or couples) and make it a great gathering with this Italian Buffet.  Fresh, fast and festive. For the meatballs I like the addition of raisins and pine nuts then cooked in the tomato sauce. My kids like them without additions (of course)!

Amy's Italian Sausage Meatballs

2 lbs of Italian sausage (if you can't find bulk, buy links and remove the casings)

1 C of seasoned bread crumbs

1 Cup grated parmesan

1/3 to 1/2 C Milk to moisten

2 eggs

salt & pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. 

Roll meatballs (golf ball size or smaller) and place on a sheet pan.  Roast for 20-25 minutes.

Variations are optional:

½ Cup of Raisins

½ Cup toasted pine nuts

basil leaves—4-6

fresh Italian parsley chopped

For the party I used the variations above and I cooked my meatballs right in tomato sauce:

•       Extra Virgin Olive Oil

•                1 small onion, chopped

•                2—28oz cans of crushed tomatoes

•      1—8 oz can of tomato paste

•                2 cups red wine (start with 1 cup and add more until meatballs are covered.)

•      1-Tbsp of sugar if you wish to make it less acidic.

In a large pot, heat the extra-virgin olive oil and cook the onion until translucent. Add the cushed tomatoes, and wine and bring it to a boil. Add the uncooked meatballs to the pot and let cook on medium heat until cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Italian Flat Bread with Grapes and Rosemary

3/4 C warm water (105 to 15 degrees)

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

2 cups (or more) all purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 T olive oil.

Mix water, sugar and yeast, let sit 5 minutes.

Add flour, salt, olive oil and chopped Rosemary, mix in a stand mixer with dough attachment until it forms a sticky ball.

Transfer from mixer to lightly floured surface.  Knead until smooth. Place in a large bowl with brushed with olive oil, set aside. Let rise covered until doubled in volume, about an hour.  Can be made one day ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container.

Roll out with  a rolling pin, let rise another 30 minutes, then push red and white whole grapes into the puffed dough.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Tomato, Watermelon, and Basil Skewers

Ingredients

•                1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

•                1/4 cup sugar

•                1 (4 to 5 pound) watermelon, cut into 32 (1 1/2-inch cubes

•                32 small basil leaves (or torn larger leaves)

•                16 cherry tomatoes, halved or 32 whole grape tomatoes

•                2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

•                Kosher salt

•                 

•                Wooden skewers

Directions

Combine the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

Starting with the watermelon squares, push the watermelon to the very tip of the skewer. Then skewer a basil leaf, then a tomato half, watermelon, leaf, tomato watermelon, leaf. Continue to make the skewers the size you'd like (if they are long, just snip them shorter). Place the skewer on a serving platter so it stands upright, using the lowest watermelon square as a base. Continue with the remaining skewers. 

Drizzle the skewers with the reserved balsamic syrup and the olive oil. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Serve/

Grilled Asparagus wrapped in Proccuitto.

Trim the tough ends from your asparagus.

Microwave on a plate with a few Tablespoons of water for 2-3 minutes.

Grill on a cast iron grill pan to add a smoky flavor. Grill until you have it nice and carmelized,  toss in garlic olive oil in a glass dish. Let cool, wrap with slices of procuitto.

NOTE: to make garlic olive oil.  Pour a few tablespoons of eevo in a pan, add a few garlic cloves, heat until warm but not to a boil, let cool and remove garlic.

Asparagus wrapped in Procuttio 

2 bunches of aspargus, trimmed (hold one stalk, then snap, cut the rest where the natural break is on one of the stalks.)

Slices of Proccuttio

Place asparagus on a plate with a few tablespoons of water, and then microwave for 2 minutes, then toss with olive oil and cook on a grill pan to get nice grill marks, remove and toss with garlic olive oil (to make this place 1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a pan and add slices of fresh garlic, warm oil, but don't boil), let cook and strain out garlic).

When asparagus is cool wrap in bundles of two asparagus with a slice of procuitto.

Melon wrapped in Procuttio 

1 Canteloupe, thinly slice melon and wrap with slices of Proccuttio

Cheese Tray

I think a mix of cheeses works best.  For my most recent gathering, I used brie, swiss, a cheese ball that had been soaked in port, and a Five County Cheese that was a cheese layered with 5 white and yellow cheeses.  Also, I really like the new Triscuits that are olive oil & rosemary flavored.  












Fruit Bowl

Fill a beautiful bowl with pears, plums, peaches, and red and white grapes.
















Chombord Dirt Cake
(original recipe from my friend Lisa Fought)

Ingredients:

1. 1 large package of oreos
2. half a stick of butter
3. 8 oz. cream cheese
4. 1 cup confectioners sugar
5. 2 packages of french vanilla instant pudding
6. 3.5 cups of milk
7. 12 oz cool whip

Directions

1.            Chop cookies very fine in food processor. The white cream will disappear.

2.            Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in bowl of a stand mixer.

3.            In a large bowl mix milk and pudding with a hand mixer, add in 2 T of Chombord (liqueur) and add few drops of red food coloring for a nice pink color. Fold in whipped topping.

4.            Combine pudding mixture and cream mixture together.

5.            Layer in flower pot or glass bowl, starting with cookies then cream mixture. Repeat layers.

6.            Chill for 24 hours. 

And of course no party would be complete without going to Denise Leo's website:                             Out of the Box Brownies

Here you will find a brownie that is easy to make and perfect for any gathering!

  

These are her Creme De Menthe Brownies, but I substituted Creme De Cacao with some red food

coloring to turn it pink for soaking the mints before topping the brownies.....I needed to fit the evening 

theme of black and pink!