hhm♥ dinner with his high school mates

okay so maybe i am a little bit crazy but when jonathan mentioned maybe having his friends over for dinner I jumped at the chance to cook for it. babysitter was organised and my saturday was planned - exercise, family time, coffee and cooking.

my menu aim ? food that is great for a chilly june evening and that would fill 7 men up.

so i decide :

spiced cauliflower soup with yoghurt and oven roasted turkish bread

lasagna with fresh chilli pasta and bechamel sauce, served with green salad and roast pumpkin

apple pie with vanilla icecream

it was so much fun to cook but there was alot to do and i didn't take any photos! maybe next time.

spiced cauliflower soup with yoghurt

this recipe is available here (http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/40/spiced+cauliflower+soup+with+yoghurt)

this soup, i made last up. it was still warm when everyone arrived. served with a side dish of natural yoghurt and some freshly baked oiled turkish bread (i would have smothered with garlic cloves prior to baking however i ran out!).

lasagna with fresh chilli pasta and bechamel sauce, served with green salad and roast pumpkin

this is a variation of my mums beef lasagna.

the lasagna i started first. i made the beef layer first. made fresh pasta dough with chilli flakes (this needs to be rested in the fridge prior to rolling into sheets of fresh, lovely, oozy pasta). made a pot of lovely bechamel sauce with fresh nutmeg and put it all together. my top layer? a fine layer of parmesan cheese (i recommend getting a microplane zester!!) and some fresh mozerella from an italian market at stock rd markets (galati + sons).

apple pie with vanilla icecream

this recipe is available here (http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/5008/apple+pie)

i have made this apple pie twice now and this recipe is wonderful! i think the key is after you have made the pie, put it in the fridge. this helps solidify the apple mixture and then it won't leak into the pastry crust. the other key is to drain the liquids from the apples when they are cooling down. else it will also make the pastry soggy.

did i mention that i made two of everything (two lasagnas, two apple pies) ?