9 Dinner-Party-Worthy Recipes That Are Really Hard to Mess Up
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Love to entertain but are a bit of a novice in the kitchen? Add hosting dinner parties to your repertoire by relying on these easy, yet impressive recipes that'll fool your guests into thinking you're a killer cook.
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Lasagna, like this butternut squash version, is a labor of love — there's no way around the lengthier prep time — that said, it's very impressive, can serve a crowd, and is hard to mess up, even as a novice cook. For another decadent option, try wild mushroom lasagna.
Individual Chocolate Fudge Cakes
Bust out your measuring spoons and your slow cooker (yes, you read that right). These individual chocolate fudge cakes are baked inside a slow cooker, making for one of the most hands-off, hard-to-mess-up cake recipes you'll find.
Roast Chicken With Vegetables
Roasting a whole chicken might seem daunting, but it's actually an easier technique to master than cooking chicken breasts (which are prone to overcooking). Here, chicken is set atop a bed of vegetables for a complete meal.
Marcella Hazan's Iconic Tomato Sauce
Yes, it's just tomato sauce, but it's also the best tomato sauce you may ever taste. This iconic recipe only requires three ingredients and is velvety and rich, and it will dress up anything from pasta to pizza.
Prosciutto-Wrapped Feta-Stuffed Dates
Like bacon-wrapped dates, these feta-stuffed, prosciutto-wrapped dates are so much greater than the sum of their parts and are ridiculously simple to assemble.
Steamed Mussels
Steamed mussels might seem like a dish best left to restaurants, but they're shockingly simple (and fast) to make at home. Try this lime-leaf-perfumed version — sub parsley or other leafy green herbs if you can't find lime leaf — or this classic Julia Child recipe.
Pasta Carbonara
Like many pasta recipes, carbonara is a relatively simple affair and crowd-pleasing to boot. Making pasta carbonara also serves as a good cooking lesson, as having your mise en place set up is crucial to correctly executing the eggy sauce.
Post-Grill Marinated Steak
The beauty of this grilled skirt steak recipe is that the meat is marinated after cooking, as it rests (an absolutely crucial step that many novice cooks skip). Do be sure to follow the instructions closely, erring on the side of grilling the steak for a shorter time, as skirt steak (a thin cut) is prone to overcooking.
Chicken Picatta
Five ingredients, 20 minutes, and one pan are all you need to make this Italian classic.