last minute dinner guests

A's cousin was in Paris Thursday night and he and a friend came by for dinner. I like having last minute guests because it prevents me from changing the menu 100 times. (I thought Umberto was vegetarian so I didn't make a meat dish - turns out he's not - oops) I usually serve at least one warm hors d'oeuvre and a few cold ones to accompany the 'apero', always champagne. That's not a pizza up top, it's cheddar cheese sprinkled on top of ready made quiche dough. I roll it into a log, slice it, then pop the cookie sheet into the oven and bake until golden (they're still raw in the photo above right). You can use hot dogs to make pigs in a blanket or in the past I've sauteed grated zucchini, onion and carrots and made a really good veggie roll. Below are the cold hors d'oeuvre which I served with a baguette: mini bocconcini (mozzarella), candied tomatoes, marinated olives, carrots, and hummus.
For the appetizer I made chèvre chaud (mixed greens with an olive oil / balsamic vinegar / dijon mustard dressing topped with toasted goat's cheese on baguette). It's so easy and it makes for a good presentation.

I bet you've figured out that by this point the only clean surface left in the kitchen was the stove top.

Next, the pasta dish. A's cousin Massimo (from Rome) gave me this receipe a few years ago. The ingredients call for tagliatelle pasta, freshly squeezed lemon juice, spinach, about 175grams of melted butter and lots of grated parmesan cheese. It tastes soooo much better than it looks in this photo.

I forgot to photograph the cheese platter, I was so tired by this point; the dinner conversation revolved around politics (bores me) and religion (Umberto is working on getting a double PhD in Islamic studies. I'll have to introduce you to my favourite French cheese (Morbier) another time. For dessert we had a deeeeelicious chocolate raspberry (frozen, but nobody would ever have guessed) torte. I gussied it up with creme anglaise and fresh raspberries. Nobody had room left for the cheese course but we all managed to eat the dessert (not pictured of course because I forgot to photograph it). It was a really nice evening.