So I decided to go all out for New Years Eve and create a three course Italian theme meal complete with Prosecco and espresso martini’s.
To start we had a mixture of mozzarella, salami, parma ham, olives and arancini balls which I made with some left over sweet potato risotto. They are pretty easy to make and make a great addition to a mixed platter. For the recipe see my post Giant Arancini Ball with Arrabbiata Sauce
This was a great thing to start with as it was easy to prepare in advance with just the need to cook the arancini balls before serving.
For the main course I made a duck ragu with pappardelle which I saw Theo Randall cooking on Saturday kitchen a few weeks ago. Again this was a good one to do as I could prep it all in advance and then it just took 10 minutes to warm it all up and cook the pasta. The ragu was made by cooking the skin of two duck breasts in a pan and then removing and cooking chunks of duck breast in the fat. You then add this to a pan with finely chopped and softened celery and red onion, port, red wine, thyme chestnuts and a bit of water. This all reduces down for a good hour and makes a deliciously rich ragu which you break up with a masher. I did this in advance then when it was time to eat reheated in a frying pan, mixed in a bit of butter, parmesan and seasoning and the cooked pasta straight from the saucepan. On top of the pasta is a bit more parmesan, olive oil and a some crisped smoked bacon and chestnuts. It was seriously delicious and there was some much flavour in the duck ragu.
I’ve been experimenting with pasta recently, having got a pasta machine this year, so made my own which just involved making the dough and rolling out into thin sheets (you could do this with a rolling pin if needed) then cutting into thick strips. Using pappardelle meant the ragu stuck nicely to all the pasta strips. I will definitely be making this one again!
For dessert I wanted to make something with chocolate and hazelnut and what better ingredient to use than Nutella! I could seriously just sit and eat it out the jar with a spoon it’s so delicious! I found a recipe on Janes Patisserie for a Ferrero Rocher and Nutella Tart, but added some extra chocolate curls rather than the Ferrero Rocher, as whilst I like the hazelnut flavour I am not a big fan of the texture. I also cheated and bought a ready made pastry case! I might try the pastry another time but with everything else I was making I didn’t really have the time to make this as well. Well the final result turned out epic if I don’t say so myself! It was very rich so you only need a small amount and I would say this could easily feed 10 – 12. I added some creme fraiche with a bit of orange zest in it to cut through the richness when serving. I made this the day before so just had to take it out the fridge and serve when the time was ready!
So that’s it, my New Years Eve Dinner for two. I will certainly be recreating all the dishes again and would recommend this for an easy to serve dinner party which you can largely prepare in advance if having people over. A little bit of Prosecco to start and some espresso martinis to finish topped off this delicious meal.