Babette's Lunch, Italian Style

Okay so perhaps the recent lunch I hosted for my in-laws was not quite Babette's Feast, but for me it was that kind of cooking project -- I wanted to raise the bar of my cooking, make something they would enjoy, and use some of my newly acquired cooking tools. (Spoiler alert: fresh extruded pasta!) This was truly a family meal.

Here is a preview of the menu:

• Orange and Fennel Salad
• Brussels Sprouts
• Farro, Beet, and Walnut Salad
• Roasted Peppers and Eggplant
• Fresh Mozarella
• Fresh Spaghetti with Mushrooms
• Macaroni Alla Matriciana
• Baked Sablefish with Lemon Butter
• Homemade Gelatos

UPDATE: added links where available

The goal was to have a lunch that was not too heavy, but provided variety and highlighted the fresh pastas. 

Some details on planning

Oftentimes, I bite off more than I can chew (so to speak) with cooking for large groups and end up feeling rushed and overtired. I managed to avoid that (narrowly) for this meal by doing a lot of the prep ahead of time, including making the pasta noodles, Alla Matriciana sauce, and churning gelatos the night before (after making the gelato custard ahead of time). 

The overall effort for making all these things, including all prep and cleanup was ~8 hours, not including time for dough to rest, gelato to chill, etc. The breakdown for this was something like:

• Two days ahead: 1 hour for gelato custards (I made two types)
• The night before: 3 hours for pastas and sauces (I also churned the gelatos during this time)
• The day of: 3.5 hours of cooking and preparation (including spending a bunch of time trying to un-stick my spaghetti, but more on that later)

I'm including these details so you can plan your meals accordingly. This was a labor of love and I totally loved every minute and I'm so pleased with how things turned out. But after, I also was so happy to munch on leftovers with a glass of wine and don't plan to cook a meal like this for a while.