I am so happy to share an easy menu for living joyfully on the Mediterranean Diet! This easy menu is perfect for a large dinner party! Recently, my sweetheart and I shared an evening with 40 of our friends. The Joyful Mediterranean Lifestyle was on full display at this event. Opening up our home, we hosted our first dinner party since Covid. A multi-course dinner, dessert, and plenty of excellent wine is the perfect backdrop to a wonderful event! Here are my secrets to making it a fun and easy night.
If your favorite vintner brings several bottles of delicious wines, oils and balsamic from his vineyard for you and your friends, a lovely dinner is necessary. Lillo from Tenuto Torciano Winery hails from San Gimignano in Tuscany. It was a wonderful occasion to host an event. The Joyful Mediterranean Lifestyle is possible even when on a diet especially when that diet is the Mediterranean Diet!
An Easy Menu For Living Joyfully on the Mediterranean Diet
This post reveals how to host a party easily for 40 people after working a full week, and not entertaining for over two years. The key is to prep, to plan, and to keep it simple. I am sharing the perfect recipes for a celebration: An Easy Menu for Living Joyfully on the Mediterranean Diet.
Antipasto
Antipasto is the course before the meal. I do not eat cured meats (or much meat at all for that matter). But my vintner, Lillo, suggests a nice prosciutto to pull the flavors of the wine. The Mediterranean Diet does allow splurges for celebration. The prosciutto was top quality. I do not eat pork, but I hear it was amazing. A quality Mediterranean Diet compliant sheep cheese, Manchego, is perfect. Nice, not too salty, Sicilian olives and sweet figs makes this lighter version of antipasto a dish made in heaven!!!!!!
Primo
Primo is the appetizer, and quite often a pasta. My main course for this party is a bit heavy. Since it includes a noodle (can you guess the dish???) I opted for something lighter. A light Eggplant Bruschetta is just the ticket. Someone asked if this Bruschetta was a caponata. I later learned a caponata is a Sicilian dish version of ratatouille that features eggplant. Eggplant Bruschetta is lighter and sweet with fresh herbs and a lemony bite! The bruschetta can be in the refrigerator a day (or two or three days ahead of time). It gets better as it marinates!
Secondo
The main course, or second, usually consists of some type of meat. Lasagna is the hearty dish, or dishes, of this menu as there were two. One lasagna, my Healthy Classic Lasagna Recipe features a leaner turkey instead of pork and beef. The recipe uses a heart healthy vegan béchamel made with oatmilk. You can sub a regular creme béchamel – I am allergic to all things cow (including dairy) but I vouch for my recipe. Healthy Classic Lasagna is based on Lillo’s Nonna’s lasagna. Olive Sunshine’s Healthy Classic Lasagna features all the best elements of a traidtional Italian lasagna but is aligned with the Mediterranean Diet.
The other lasagna is my Jackie’s (my mom) Famous Lazy Lasagna. I will warn you my mother’s lasanga is not exactly Mediterranean Diet compliant. DELICIOUS, since it uses wholesome ingredients it is not totally off-limits. Just do not eat too much! When serving it with a four course meal, the portions should be small making it the perfect time to serve this dish! Both lasagnas were favorites of the evening!
Contorno
Maybe one of my favorite aspects of the Italian meal is the Contorno. A simple salad, it is served with the Secondo. In Italy, the main course is smaller than the American dinner-course. This may be due to raw veggie on the plate with the main. What is easier than a perfect arugula salad? The peppery arugala is balanced with pecans, dried cherries and thick shavings of pecorino. Pouring on a quality extra-virigin olive oil like the one from Torciano makes this salad an easy stunner at a party. It is so delicious no one will notice smaller portions of the secondo.
Dolce
Dolce is a sweet course. A perfect ending to a fabulous dinner party is dessert. Isn’t it better when the dessert is healthy? For this celebration, I was happy to serve my natually sweetend Italian Almond Cake with Raspberries. Tasting this for the first time in Taormina, Sicily, I was in love! The Olive Sunshine version is low in sugar. So good, it is sweet from maple sryup and decadent with roasted almonds. It is super moist from heart-healthy extra-virgin olive oil. Perfectly simple and rustic it makes a beautiful decoration. Using cakes as displays at the party, encourages everyone to save room for the dolce!
An Easy Menu for Living Joyfully on the Mediterranean Diet
The meal is made ahead and ready to serve family style. Whether you are serving an intimate dinner for two, or a party for 40 people it can be easy and fun! I do hope you can sit an Easy Menu for Living Joyfully on the Mediterranean Diet.