Okay, guidos and Luigis! I need some help

Meat and anything else is great

Risotto?

Sauteed spinach with a bit of garlic? Escarole and beans?

Escarole soup is always a winner to me.

As are pizzelles - although not a side dish.

Pasta is a course, not a side dish. And what kind of Italian-American host asks you to bring a side dish?!

They don't like pasta? I've never heard of such a thing.

R2 I second the Risotto.

I make a pretty good vegan risotto using almond milk and Better Than Boullion if you want the recipe, OP. It's a good substitute for anyone trying to go easy on the dairy.

Meatballs?

I feel full after the risotto.

i like the meatballs

maybe escarole and garlic

Make my mom’s chopped antipasto. Dice several stalks of celery into very small cubes. Put it into a bowl and add the following - a jar (or 2) of chopped olive salad with all the juice / a drained can of artichoke hearts, quartered / a good amount of sharp (hard) provolone cubed / about half a pepperoni sliced / a drained can of black olives / half jar of small pimento stuffed olives / small jar of pepperoncini. Stir that all up and add more olive oil if needed . Then garnish the top with rolled up salami / cubed sliced fresh mozzarella / a jar of pimentos cut into strips / a can of anchovies (if you like them).

Make it the day before and let it sit overnight in the fridge - then set it out early and let it get closer to room temp before serving. I’d be happy eating only that most holidays.

Bring a baked fish dish for the shock and awe

Bake some eggplant. Healthy and delicious! 🍆

Arancini

Wedding soup

Pick up some great mozzarella sticks on the way there. Everyone will love them and you can't get much more Italian-American. Don't try to be fancy. No one cares.

Escarole and white beans garlic, olive oil...perfection! If you can't get escarole use fresh spinach.. In fact I had this dish in Siena: Saute' fresh spinach in olive oil and garlic, add cherry tomatoes sliced in half, and some cannellini beans. Sprinkle the dish with grated Romano/Parmesan mix of grated cheese, and enjoy. It take about ten minutes t o prepare.

[quote]I make a pretty good vegan risotto using almond milk and Better Than Boullion

Sacrilege.

Whatever you do, prepare the dish in advance, it must be cooked and prepared on site. I would suggest bringing your own cookware and serving utensils. Make sure your cookware is "oven to table" ...no shitty pyrex or corningware.

How about an artichoke casserole? It's quick and very, very simple. A perfect side dish for an Italian dinner.

Stupid Italian, antipasto!

Just bring along a fresh faced, curly haired eager bottom with impeccable anal hygiene to pass around the room!

Eggplant parmigiana/Parmigiana di Melanzane. Only needs heating up upon arrival.

If you can find any good tomatoes and basil in the stores at this time of year, caprese salad would be something nice and fresh tasting against all the cooked food. And the colors would be very bright and "Christmasy"

Olive Garden takeout.

Enchiladas marinara

Shrimp Scampi style with garlic, butter, lemon and parsley.

Italian Sausage and Peppers with Onions in a Marsala wine sauce

Panzanella Salad

Polenta with lots of Parmesan

Bruschetta: Grilled bread topped with a mix of diced tomatoes, garlic, basil, and olive oil.

Stuffed Mushrooms with sweet Italian sausage

Antipasto Platter: A variety of cured meats, cheeses, olives, and marinated vegetables.

Googootz

Baked fennel with Parmesan and a bottle of sambuca.

Steam broccoli. Dress it with (good) olive oil, a touch of lemon juice, and a touch (A TOUCH) of garlic. The garlic is optional.

Can be served lukewarm (room temp) or even cold.

E eccoti!

R27 LOL! We had to eat that for weeks in the Fall. The zucchini in the garden would multiply overnight and Grandma kept cooking that stew. I've made it a few times when I felt nostalgic, but if I never eat it again I will not miss it.. Thanks for making me smile.

I've discovered that most people don't know how to cook eggplant Parmesan. It's mushy and gross. IMO I like it crunchy. I use Panko to bread the slices of eggplant after dipping it in the egg mixture along with the cheese and the seasonings. Then we fry it to a nice golden brown. Drain it well, place it in a casserole dish with some homemade sauce and cheese it up, but don't over cook it in the oven. Cook it long enough for the cheese to melt and cook it on high. So maybe 10-15 minutes.

A side dish is not a serious relationship. He's someone you keep handy for now and then. So if you do bring a side dish, just be aware that you will be judged and he will be compared to your regular .

I make broccoli the way r29 does. If I don't have lemon, I use red wine vinegar, and I always use garlic. S&P at the end. Giuliano Bugialli called it Broccoli Romana.

Another side dish, cannelini: I soak a pound of white beans overnight, then cook them in the morning with seven whole cloves of garlic (not peeled or chopped), 1/4 cup of olive oil, some tomato paste, and a sprig or two of fresh sage. I'll also add a Parmigiano-Reggiano rind. I add not quite enough water to cover, then cook, covered, in a 4-quart saute pan, for 45 minutes to an hour.

Some people say to add salt while cooking, some not to salt until you're finished with the cooking process. I usually wait until the beans are cooked. I serve with EVOO and freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. I don't remember whose recipe this is, but I got it out of a cookbook or website.

r12, I was thinking of something with eggplant

Fish. Always stinking fish with the damned dagos.

Something green and on the light side. Broccoli rabe? Beans?

You don't want fish or seafood (unless part of antipast) for Christmas day.

R26's suggestion of stuffed mushrooms is good. You can mushroom caps two ways, with our without sausage. The stuffing will include bread crumbs, parmesan (use the best), garlic, the chopped mushroom stems.

mhmm, okay.. I'll consider that

maybe this?

and maybe this too?

This looks good and probably travels and reheats well. People can just take one or two for a taste and to be polite, so it's picky eater friendly.

Gabagool.

If you follow r40 to sipandfeast.com, take a look around. The guy is an amazing Italian-American cook (in Long Island).

Check out his IG page, too.

Cheesy, crusty garlic bread in two or three bite slices, some olives, and chunks of salumi and Italian cheese like Provolone or Fontina or Asiago. throw in a few pepperoncini.

Make a pizza using ready made Boboli with arugula, fig jam and cheese chunks. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and fresh basil.

nice, I'll ask. great ideas

If you make R45 - which will be very good - keep your cheese to goat cheese or mozzarella. Also, rough chop the arugula before you put it on the pizza; it's easier to bite off a piece of pizza without dragging off more arugula than you want, which usually ends up on you or the table, not in your mouth.

No Swiss or Cheddar type cheeses. Though, come to think of it, Gouda might be interesting.

r46/OP, what support? There have been maybe two or three appropriate side dishes recommended in this thread. The rest are appetizers or courses. Without knowing what the main course and other courses are, how can one possibly know what kind of side dish to bring? Most people who can't manage hosting a dinner themselves will ask people to bring an appetizer or dessert. That doesn't need to be heated up.

I hope you have very low expectations for this dinner, it sounds like the food and its presentation will be a disaster.

Don't like pasta at all? What the hell? Pasta is cheap and I'm guessing they don't want 5 kinds of pasta salad.

I don’t like pasta either, unless it has filling. I prefer polenta cooked thick or fried in slices with sauce on top.

i like to eat

r17 It's revenge for those of you who put tuna in the macaroni and cheese you cook with a roux and don't bake.

ENOUGH with the Broccoli! I think 20 out of 50 posts are about broccoli or eggplant. Don't you girls have any better of an imagination? Lots of Americans hate Broccoli. I guarantee if the there is an array of Italian food on the table, the greens will be the last to go. Fish will be a close second unless it's shrimp.

EAT MEAT

Eggplant rollatini.

my Italian friend doesn't like cheese !

it's decide, crispy baked eggplant parmeggiana and stuffed mushrooms

she has some Brussels sprouts which likely will be fairly plain and then a spicy corn pudding

chicken cutlet! Italians love them!

i adore rollatini

I don't like mushy, soggy shit.

so crispy and fatty

Is that you, OP, at r57?

Has your friend actually ever thrown a dinner party before?

Sautéed broccoli rabe with garlic or escarole, cannelloni beans, and rosemary

i don't like eggplant

I love it. I’m making rollentini now

chicken cutlets with panko crust

Did someone say eggplant?🍆

I'm not hungry. I'll just pick.

R65 : Involtini?

R65, i love them

Broccolini is a man made vegetable, Eggplant has almost no nutritional value.

The answer is [bold]MILLET[/bold].

Dying at birth is the best option

Sausage with peppers of course. I like to slice mine thin on the diagonal so you can pair with pasta or rice if you want.

[quote] ENOUGH with the Broccoli! I think 20 out of 50 posts are about broccoli or eggplant. Don't you girls have any better of an imagination? Lots of Americans hate Broccoli. I guarantee if the there is an array of Italian food on the table, the greens will be the last to go. Fish will be a close second unless it's shrimp.

Baby taster has chimed in.

No, it's not about that, now grow up so we can teach you something. Broccoli! is a man made invention. It's not occurring in nature. It was bred out from a wild cabbage.

a thousand years ago by netherlandish peasants, get the fuck over yourself, cunt

Time is irrelevant r77, fake plants are fake plants. Still not what nature intended.

R78 so do you mostly eat seeds and grubs?

Most vegetables that we know today are hybrids and have evolved over thousands of years.

Become a carnivore R79, problem solved.

Make my antipasto salad. Use proportions to your heart. Do it for the family!

Lettuce, any kind Tomatoes, sliced in small pieces or sun dried Cucumber slices Black olives Roasted red peppers Thinly sliced red onion Depending on class: prosciutto, salami or pepperoni (choose 1) Mozzarella in cubes Crutons Dressing, can go with old school Italian or one of the better ones with Romano

R10, that sounds delicious!

Garlic bread. There's a recipe on America's Test Kitchen's YouTube channel. It involves supermarket bakery bread (a loaf, unsliced, but you will slice, later), fresh garlic, granulated garlic (ie, garlic powder), and butter.

Italians like bitter greens - they cut nicely through the other flavors of Italian food, and cleanse the palate. Some examples are radicchio, escarole, tuscan kale, endive - and yes, broccolini, rabe, brussels sprouts and regular old cabbage. They also provide needed roughage, which is not found in pasta dishes or white bread. I didn't see too many recipes for zucchini, romano green beans, artichokes or fennel above, but they are also very popular in Italian cooking. However, you wouldn't normally find most of these vegetables in an Italian restaurant. I think they are mostly used in home cooking.

Link - pg 1 of 13

Panzanella - Basically a rustic BREAD and tomato salad. It's not a salad with bread in spite of the title.

Artichokes would be delicious and luxurious.

R87 that sounds good in the antipasto salad

Artichokes are out of season.

So are tomatoes but folks are suggesting panzanella

Can I just say: Mozzarella is so bland it is almost tasteless, and it's kind of rubbery too and while it is very popular, it is definitely not a favorite of mine. I grew up in a very traditional Italian household with a Grandmother who set the standard in the kitchen. We never had much mozzarella laying around. Her go to was Lucatello Romano for grating. Very hard cheese. But for eating and for antipasti, it was fontina, or provolone, or Fontinella. Very little Parmesan crossed the threshold as well. The round of ricotta she bought and drained was mixed with Romano cheese and salt pepper and parsley and a couple of eggs to use in the ravioli, the manicotta, or the lasagna. The region of Italy our family came from was Calabria. The instep of the boot, and we came from the interior, the hills. We didn't have a lot of seafood around either except for the anchovy sauce on the pasta and the salted cod fish on Christmas Eve. We ate polenta sliced and fried with sauce. We loved roasted red bell peppers and the long cubanelles to fry up with chicken. We ate pork with lots of fennel and garlic. Grandma would use chunks of stewing beef and pork to slow cook in her sauce. Wasn't very much meat sauce with ground beef. I'm told goat was popular for the cheeses and the meat, but we never had goat meat in her house.

Just bring some gabbagool and fuhgeddaboudit.

OP, I suggest getting new friends. This pasta hating Italian centric crowd sounds exhausting.

I love fontina

[quote]Mozzarella is so bland it is almost tasteless, and it's kind of rubbery too

Stop buying cheap grocery store cheese. Real mozzarella is not tasteless or rubber. Sounds like you are buying the equivalent of Kraft cheese and complaining it does not melt like real cheese because it's a cheese "product".

R91 Those cheeses sound good for my salad.

I love fontinella and fontina val d'aosta. And Parmigiano-Reggiano. I use mozzarella in things, like Caprese salad and New Jersey lasagne.

What the hell is a New Jersey Lasagne?

Let me guess:

No Boil Pasta sheets

Costco Ground Beef

Shredded "Motzs" Cheese in bag

Ragu Tomato sauce with extra garlic

Kraft Parm in a green can

Secret Ingredient - Diced Pork Roll

Eating MEAT

I heard Pecorino Romano is tastier than Parmesan Reggiano.

It is stronger and more flavorful, R100.

I'm waiting to see what an abomination of a meal was served.

[quote]I heard Pecorino Romano is tastier than Parmesan Reggiano.

They are different, Pecorino Romano is a lot stronger, made from sheep's milk, some people mix both in the same recipe.

I’m familiar with both P-R’s, r100. Romanos are sharper in flavor, and saltier to my taste buds. Parmigiano is nuttier, not unsalty. I like it better. In addition to using it in recipes or to grate on pasta, I like to eat it, plain or with fruit and nuts.

R98 Or you just get the 3 pound frozen beef lasagna from Costco and loudly bitch and curse when you burn it.

Prime rib will be served.

And I will be cooking and prepping there. Not bringing a hot dish in my hands like a soup kitchen mamma

Prime Rib? Hmm, then bring something with Rosemary in it. Perfect compliment.

Maybe a rosemary olive bread.

Or maybe Rosemary Roasted Fingerling Potatoes.

rosemary clooney fiesta

Surely you’re joking OP @ r107.

But on the other hand, if your host is so clueless and asked you to provide part of the meal, they deserve to have you commandeer their kitchen during the party.

Sounds like a miserable party. I would decline or make plans to meet at a restaurant where people are paid to prepare food. Maybe your friends should start out by trying to host a cocktail party before attempting to pull off a dinner party.

Yeah, what the hell. I don't understand cooking a prime rib at the the host's or hostess's house. However, as stated, if they're going to have a pot luck, then you take your chances.

Prime rib is pretty much a main course. I'm sure the host is happy you're paying for that.

[quote]would decline or make plans to meet at a restaurant where people are paid to prepare food.

You sound as frigid and frosty as queen Victoria. Some of us LIKE to cook, and LIKE, our friends. Fuck all of you cunts who need to be waited on like the god damned cuntessa of cunt

[quote]Prime rib is pretty much a main course. I'm sure the host is happy you're paying for that.

That’s the hostess’s job, I’ll do the sides.

As a host I'd never invite sides, what's the point?

Chicken Milanese. It is similar to Chicken Parmigiano except chicken is baked and not breaded.

Nearly all food prep should be finished before guests arrive so the host can welcome his guests and not be mashing potatoes in the kitchen. But if you've been invited to cook together and it's some weird cooking party, that's another kettle of fish. I would make sure the host knows what cooking tools, serving dishes, and length of cooking time your unprepared side dishes need.

R114, fun, family, friends, enjoy oneself. But it’s hard to do that when their a massive ramrod stuck up your ass

[quote] would make sure the host knows what cooking tools,

Since we’ve been friends for over thirty years, I think I can guess what her kitchen is about. Holy fuck, you queens need to get out more often

OK if you want an easy entree style dish, I have something very easy: Buy some frozen, uncooked chicken breast tenderloins breaded with Panko from Tysons. I have a bag full. slather a cookie sheet with olive oil, and lay them on it with a dusting of garlic powder, and cook them for about 18-20 minutes, then sprinkle them with grated Parmesan cheese. I fry cubanelle peppers in olive oil until they're soft and even a bit scorched and then pour them, olive oil and all, over the breaded chicken and cover with foil return to the oven for about ten minutes to sort of smother them. They're delicious and no trouble to prepare at all.

[quote]OK if you want an easy entree style dish

OK that's not what he wants, not what he asked for.

How the hell did things go from a non-pasta, Italian side dish to prime rib, cooked at the hostess’s house.

If the host is making prime rib, I’d go for broccoli rabe in garlic and oil as the side dish. You need something that’ll be strong enough to cut through the fatty richness of the prime rib.

And a bottle of sambuca

We will drink wine

With dinner, wine yes.

But after dinner?

I’m not sure. Every detail of the Xmas meal need not be prescripted

hope the OP has a lovely Christmas dinner and that his hosts learn how to have a dinner party