Pasta dinner dish want to impress for dinner guest

I am having people over for dinner saturday night & would like to do a pasta dish as the main meal. I have to feed 4 adults & 6 kids & would like a recipe that does not have mushrooms in it. Thanks in advance :-)

A seriously impressive tasting dish is pasta maybe tagliatelle?Cooked and dressed with a tomato vege sauce - from a jar even ehehe, and then stir through diced brie and toasted pinenuts.I put this combo together for a vegetarian friend once and now I love it as an impressive yet easy dish.Of course my cheese had vegetarian rennet.Yum

mmm that does sound nice :-)

This recipe came from an American magazine some years ago and is really delicious.

Martha's Pasta Casserole

375 g pasta, half cooked
250 g sour cream
125 g cream cheese
Small bunch spring onions chopped
Parsley
Salt and pepper
6 to 8 cups meat sauce or vegetable based pasta sauce
1 to 2 cups tasty cheese or use half tasty and half parmesan

Combine sour cream and cream cheese through hot half cooked pasta. Leave for a few minutes then stir gently, add spring onions, chopped parsley and seasoning to taste.
In a large greased baking dish put a layer of the pasta mixture, then a layer of sauce. Scatter over some of the cheese then repeat layers and top with the remaining cheese.
Bake at 180C for 45 mins to 1 hour until top is browned. Let stand for at least 10 mins before cutting.

Tonight I made pasta with a pottle of pesto & pinenuts, bacon fried up with sunflower seeds, cherry tomatoes, spinach and feta cheese.Was really good :)

Sundried Tomato and Chicken Fettucine :)

Pack of fresh fettucine
400ml cream (or coconut cream) (or more if u like)
100gm Sundried Tomatoes (chopped finely)
500gm chicken (strips or cubed)
1 tspn chicken stock powder
1tblspn basil leaves (chopped finely)
1 onion (diced)

Fry chicken, add onion. lower heat and add cream basil and sundried tomatoes. simmer until cream turns slightly red (pink) add stock powder and mix. Simmer until creamy. Cook fettucine

bump for more these sound good

This is always a winner....fry onion and garlic, add shredded smoked chicken, 1 pottle creme fraiche, heat through with some chicken stock, water or white wine and chopped avocade. reduce a little. Pour over cooked penne or fettucine. Top with toasted pinenuts etc. yummy and looks impressive.
Also can be made with fresh mussles and bacon, topped with grilled bacon and pine nuts. Oh yeah, sweet thai chilli sauce in there to taste.

Prawn Tortellini with Sauteed Crayfish, Pumpkin Puree and Prawn Oil
Pasta Dough
Pasta Dough

200g type ‘00’ flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch sea salt

Prawn Mousse

600 g green prawns, whole (about 300 g prawn meat). Reserve the shells for the prawn oil
¼ teaspoon flaked salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1 egg white
120 ml cream
zest of ½ a lemon

1 crayfish (or use crab)

Pumpkin Puree

60g unsalted butter
300g grated pumpkin
80ml milk

Prawn Oil

200ml olive oil
Prawn heads and shells
30g diced fennel
2 bay leaves
1 star anise
1 teaspoon tomato paste

To Assemble

A selection of micro cress
1 egg yolk for egg wash, lightly beaten

Combine flour, eggs, olive oil and salt in food processor. Process until mixture forms a ball.
Remove dough from processor and knead briefly on a lightly floured bench until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature.

2. Prawn Mousse

Remove the heads from the prawns then peel the tails to remove all of their shells.Set the heads and shells aside in the fridge to be used in the prawn oil (see recipe).
Take the prawn meat and remove the intestinal line by running a small knife along the back of the prawn tail, then scrape out the intestinal track then discard.
Process prawn meat, salt and white pepper in a food processor until a coarsely chopped.Add egg white and blend until mixture is smooth.Add cream and lemon zest and process until just combined. Avoid over mixing. Place into a piping bag and refrigerate.

3. Crayfish

Place crayfish into a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 1 ½ minutes, then using tongs transfer it to a large bowl of iced water. Once chilled, remove the claws and head. Carefully crack the its tail open and remove the meat. Using a nut cracker, carefully crack the claw shells and remove the meat.

4. Pumpkin Puree

Melt butter in a large frying pan, add pumpkin and cook over medium heat until soft. Add milk, cover with a lid and cook for 6-8 minutes over low heat, checking occasionally or until pumpkin is soft.
Transfer pumpkin mixture to chopper attachment and blend with the stick blender until smooth. Season with salt.

5. Prawn Oil

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large fryingpan, add reserved prawn heads and shells, fennel, bay leaf and star anise, cook stirring continuously until shells are cooked and fennel is soft. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring for 1 minute, add remaining olive oil, turn the heat down to low and cook for 20 minutes. Place a sieve over a bowl and strain mixture, discarding solids.

6. Tortellini
Divide dough into three balls. Flatten each ball into a disk and pass through the pasta machine on the widest setting. Fold pasta in half, lengthways and repeat without changing the roller settings. Cut pasta if it gets too long. Gradually narrowing the pasta machine settings 1 notch at a time. Roll the pasta through until the finest setting. Run through 3 times then cut out 3 rounds with a 10cm round cutter.
To make the tortellini, brush one half of each circle with egg place a little of the prawn mousse in the center of each circle (about the size of a 20cent piece) and fold the pasta in half, pressing it around the edges to seal in filling. Then wind the folded edge around the tip of your index finger and press the 2 ends together to form a ring. Cook tortellini boiling water for 4-5 minutes or until tender and pasta al dente.
Heat 2 tablespoons prawn oil in a medium frying pan, add crayfish and cook over medium-low heat to warm through, season with salt.

7. To Plate the Dish

Add puree to the plate.
Arrange the tortellini onto the plate.
Drizzle with prawn oil
Garnish with micro cress.

going to give this one a go for tonight dinner :-)

well it came out soo well & did impress! even the kids came back for 2nds lolwas hoping to hae leftovers for my lunch today but nope lol

Great recommendation tarankyle

Fresh fettucine with fresh salmon in a white wine/shallots/cream/dill sauce.
Divine but rich.

That sounds Y-U-M-M-M :)

one of the "best" meals I served last year:
1st course: antipasto...
2nd course: fresh spaghetti with pesto stirred through
3rd course: tiramsu...

The 2nd course was really simple - people knew when they were eating the antipasto - that was the "main" course...
and people loved the simplicity of it...
when people arrived, I pulled the antipasto from the fridge... Had the pot boiling on the stove for the spag... and the pudding was in the fridge too....
Easy to be a charming host when the meal is ready

You cannot beat home made Tiramisu

A seriously impressive tasting dish is pasta maybe tagliatelle!Cooked and dressed with a tomato vege sauce - from a jar even ehehe, and then stir through diced brie and toasted pinenuts.I put this combo together for a vegetarian friend once and now I love it as an impressive yet easy dish.Of course my cheese had vegetarian rennet.Yum

This recipe came from an American magazine some years ago and is really delicious.

Martha's Pasta Casserole

375 g pasta, half cooked
250 g sour cream
125 g cream cheese
Small bunch spring onions chopped
Parsley
Salt and pepper
6 to 8 cups meat sauce or vegetable based pasta sauce
1 to 2 cups tasty cheese or use half tasty and half parmesan

Combine sour cream and cream cheese through hot half cooked pasta. Leave for a few minutes then stir gently, add spring onions, chopped parsley and seasoning to taste.
In a large greased baking dish put a layer of the pasta mixture, then a layer of sauce. Scatter over some of the cheese then repeat layers and top with the remaining cheese.
Bake at 180C for 45 mins to 1 hour until top is browned. Let stand for at least 10 mins before cutting.

This is always a winner.fry onion and garlic, add shredded smoked chicken, 1 pottle creme fraiche, heat through with some chicken stock, water or white wine and chopped avocade. reduce a little. Pour over cooked penne or fettucine. Top with toasted pinenuts etc. yummy and looks impressive.
Also can be made with fresh mussles and bacon, topped with grilled bacon and pine nuts. Oh yeah, sweet thai chilli sauce in there to taste.

Homemade pesto sauce with creme fraice stirred through hot pasta.

This on not as impressive as it is tasty.
I roast a bunch of veggies-pumpkin, courgette, capsicum, red onion coated in Mccormick country roast potato seasoning then fry some bacon, add some cream and a bit of basil pesto. (you could use normal cream or philadelphia cooking cream-whatever you have) and then add veges and pasta.
done.

one of the "best" meals I served last year:
1st course: antipasto.
2nd course: fresh spaghetti with pesto stirred through
3rd course: tiramsu.

The 2nd course was really simple - people knew when they were eating the antipasto - that was the "main" course.
and people loved the simplicity of it.
when people arrived, I pulled the antipasto from the fridge. Had the pot boiling on the stove for the spag. and the pudding was in the fridge too.
Easy to be a charming host when the meal is ready