Serves: 5

Now, you're having a party! Expece lots of chatter and a slight bit of chaos lots of wineglasses, serveral salt and pepper shakers circulating, bread baskets making their way around the table, and friends offering to clear and serve. The mixture of people is less important, since if someone doesn't have instant rapport with one person there are plenty of others to engage in conversation. Here again, roasts, one-pot meals, gratins, and casseroles are easy to make and to serve for a large group. Each of the recipes in this chapter will serve up to twelve for ten you'll likely have leftovers. The recipes include a Baked Three-Cheese Pasta with Pancetta, a simple chicken dish, and a roasted leg of lamb, plus some casserole-style desserts: Rice Pudding with Brandied Cherries, a buttery fruit crisp, and dark chocolate brownies served with coffee ice cream. And after dinner who knows? You could be rolling up the carpets.

From Dinner Parties. Text copyright © 2004 by Jessica Strand. Photographs copyright © 2004 by Victoria Pearson. All rights reserved. First published by Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, California.

More Recipes from the Dinner Parties Cookbook:
*Dinners for Ten to Twelve
Apricot, Cherry, And Blueberry Crisp With Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Arugula, Blood Orange, And Fennel Salad With Walnut Oil
Bagna Cauda With Fennel, Endives, and Cauliflower
Baked Three-Cheese Pasta With Pancetta
Broccoli Mash
Bruschetta With Chopped Tomatoes, Parsley, And Basil
Chicken à la Mama
Chopped Escarole Salad With Grapefruit And Avocado
Dark Chocolate Brownies With Coffee Ice Cream
Frisée Salad With Mushrooms, Tomatoes, And Red Onion
Rice Pudding With Brandied Cherries
Roasted Leg of Lamb With Mint Pesto
Roasted Mixed New Potatoes