Dinner Party Menu

These two recipes helped me throw a successful dinner party a few weeks back. I also served crackers, brie, cammembert and rosemary & garlic chips as an entree, and espresso truffles with coffee.

The Mains: Cannelloni by Food in a Minute

Ingredients
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
250 g Wattie's Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained
250g container Tararua Cottage Cheese with Tomato and Basil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup grated parmesan or tasty cheddar cheese
420g can Wattie's Condensed Tomato Soup with Diced Tomatoes
1/3-1/2 cup water
125 g packet dried cannelloni tubes
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Method
1. Heat a dash of oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and garlic until soft. Stir in the prepared Wattie's Chopped Spinach and set aside to cool.

2. Stir in the Tararua Cottage Cheese with Tomato and Basil, tomato paste and half the grated cheese. Season with pepper.

3. Combine the Wattie's Condensed Tomato Soup with Diced Tomatoes and water. Pour half into the base of a lasagne-style dish.

4. Fill the cannelloni shells with the cottage cheese filling and place the cannelloni on top of the soup. Pour over the remaining tomato soup mixture to cover. Mix the remaining Parmesan cheese with the fresh breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the soup.

5. Bake at 190°C for 25-30 minutes until the cannelloni is tender. This amount serves about 4. I doubled it and gave each person 3 tubes.



The Dessert: Banana Butterscotch Pudding by Bill Grainger

125 g (1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
a pinch of salt
120 g (1/2 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 banana, mashed
200ml milk
85 g (3 oz) unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
vanilla ice cream to serve
Topping
140g (3/4 cup) soft brown sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup
250 ml (1 cup) boiling water

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Sift the flour, salt, sugar, baking and powder into a bowl. Add the banana milk, butter, egg and vanilla extract and whisk together until well combined. Pour into a greased 2.5 L baking dish.

To make the topping, place the brown sugar, golden syrup and water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Pour the boiling mixture carefully over the pudding, then bake for 30 - 40 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Apparently it serves 4 but I quite happily dished up 7 servings.