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Your Italian dinner party - hearty, sensual, delicious

Bread, wine, cheese on red checkered cloth

Your Italian dinner party invites guests to eat and talk and laugh around your dinner table. An Italian theme is hearty and sensual.

A red checkered table cloth instantly conjures up the right atmosphere. A Luciano Pavarotti CD playing and a bottle of Chianti on the table, and suddenly all your guests are in an Italian mood.

Antipasto recipe – an easy make-ahead appetizer

Although strictly speaking antipasto is a starter course, most people will be happy to see your selection laid out as an appetizer. Just provide little plates and forks to make it convenient to sample in the living room before dinner.

You don`t really need an antipasto recipe. Choose your favorites from a selection of cured meats, olives, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts and Italian cheeses like provolone or mozzarella.

Put them on a platter with crackers and let guests help themselves.

Italian Dinner Party salad

Insalata caprese is a salad the Capri way. In English it is a tomato and mozzarella salad. In any language it is simple and delicious.

To make your salad, alternate thick tomato slices and slices of mozzarella on a platter.Sprinkle the tomatoes and cheese with fresh basil leaves, drizzle with olive oil and add salt to taste. Bellissimo!

Make ahead Chicken Cacciatore recipe

Thie ingredients for this chicken cacciatore recipe makes enough for 4 to 6 people allowing up to 2 pieces of chicken per person. If you are serving 6 people, slightly increase the olive oil and add up to 2 cups of chicken stock.

Boneless chicken pieces (allow two pieces per person, your choice of thighs or breasts)
2 tablespoons of olive oil (extra-virgin if you have it)
1 red bell pepper sliced thinly
1 onion sliced thinly
3 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
1 pound or a 28 ounce can of plum tomatoes, diced or chopped coarsely
2-3 tablespoons of chopped parsley
½ cup of red wine
1 ½ cups of chicken stock (look for the reduced sodium kind if you are buying it)

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and brown the chicken. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

Add the red bell pepper, onion, garlic and plum tomatoes. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, then add the wine and simmer for about 5 more minutes.

Add the plum tomatoes and chicken stock, then put the chicken back and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes.

Make ahead and reheat instructions
You can make this chicken cacciatore recipe a day ahead. Just let it cool and store it covered in the fridge. On the evening of your dinner party, take it out of the fridge a few minutes before you are ready to reheat it. If you stored it in the pot, just put the pot on the stove and heat it to a gentle bubble. Transfer to your serving dish, garnish with parsley and serve proudly.

Dessert of gelato ice cream (Italian ice cream) or tiramisu

Mint ice cream

Make life easy for yourself and buy dessert. After the rich main course, gelato ice cream is a perfect dessert choice, unless of course you just can`t resist serving delicious tiramisu. If you choose gelato ice cream, serve little biscuits alongside.

And there you have your Italian dinner party!

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