I am having friends for dinner on Saturday and plan to make a NYT recipe for White Lasagna - a sort of pasta primavera in lasagna form. I’m having trouble coming up with a couple of side dishes, other than garlic bread, to round out the meal. Some of my ideas include:
Nicoise Salad
Chopped Antipasto (one with meat, one vegetarian) @Saregama’s fennel and orange salad that she recently posted (tho I’ve done other fennel salads with this group in the past)
The lasagna is rich so I’m thinking I should go light but I think some of the diners will miss their meat.
Just me and my tastes, but I would skip the garlic bread, and serve the lasagna as main, along with crisp salad greens in vinaigrette and plenty of wine. Fancy dessert to follow. Maybe a (meat inclusive) antipasto in advance as appetizer? I doubt anyone would miss a meat-protein in the main dish (me included).
Mr Bean specifically requested garlic bread but I’ll have other alternatives as well. I like the idea of doing an antipasto (is that just another word for charcuterie board) with meat. A crisp salad will certainly add textural interest.
I had the fennel orange salad when I made lasagne recently, and it cut the richness perfectly.
My other choice would have been arugula salad with a light lemon or orange and olive oil dressing, but given the greens in your lasagne, the fennel would be more different than arugula.
Another idea is a beet salad – I did that one with oranges recently too. A bit sweet and a bit tart to balance the richness. I did batons for the beets, but you could thin-slice them for prettier plating.
Agree with @MunchkinRedux about skipping the garlic bread, especially as it’s a white lasagne.
If you think some people will miss meat, how about sausage-stuffed mushrooms as a side?
Or you could have charcuterie beforehand. (I’m not a big fan of chopped meat in antipasto form, but some prosciutto crudo or mortadella is always a welcome bite.)
My favorite dressing for a crisp, green salad is 2 parts walnut oil to 1 part sherry vinegar, with Dijon mustard (1 t. for every tablespoon of vinegar), shallots, and salt and pepper to taste. It cuts through a rich pasta dish very well!
Speaking only for myself, I struggle with carb-centric mains if there’s no hit of protein elsewhere in the meal. I tend to feel really crappy for a while afterward Because of that, I tend to offer proteiny apps in this sort of situation. I’ve made cocktail meatballs as an app in this situation, specifically my favorite Meatball Shoppe recipe, just smaller. They can be made ahead, so usually I offer them with some Italian olives and crudités or something similar.
I had a beet, blood orange and fennel salad in Rome that was quite memorable, at Nonna Betta.
It suppose it would be fairly similar to the fennel and orange salad.
I’d suggest quick pickled broccoli. Crunchy and sharp, so a good contrast to your lasagna. Very quick and simple, too:
Generously (maybe half a cup for one broccoli head) dress small broccoli florets with a whisked well salted 50/50 mix of olive oil and wine vinegar (white or red will do fine). Mix thoroughly so every bit is glistening, and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes. The broccoli’s colour will darken and intensify a bit. Don’t leave it in plain sight, as some will mysteriously disappear! Best fresh, but keeps okay in the fridge for a day or so.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
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That’s our usual accompaniment to lasagne. I’m not sure what our history is with this - it’s the only pasta dinner we make where we’d have an accompaniment with the dish.
Thank you all SOOOOOOO much for all these wonderful ideas.
Based on your feed back I am planning to make protein, but not cheese centric appetizers - I’m leaning toward the Ina Gartner Shrimp Louis that @Aubergine posted on a bed of crisp lettuce and probably sausage stuffed mushrooms per @Saregama’s suggestion. Two of my guests are lacto-ovo vegetarians so I may add a few deviled eggs to the mix.
With the lasagna I’ll definitely lean into the crunchy , pickley suggestions. @Amandarama’s vinaigrette recipe sound good. I’m not sure I have walnut oil on hand but I don’t mind buying some for this occasion. Does any one have any recommendations for the crunchiest/crispiest greens for the salad? Red peppers are on sale this week so I may roast a batch and figure out something to do with them.
There are so many great ideas here I plan on saving this thread for future reference.
Because of that, I tend to offer proteiny apps in this sort of situation. I’ve made cocktail meatballs as an app in this situation, specifically my favorite Meatball Shoppe recipe, just smaller. They can be made ahead, so usually I offer them with some Italian olives and crudités or something similar.
