Tired of spending hours in the kitchen as the quantities needed to feed your family are so important? Here are tasty seasonal recipes, guaranteed without stress, which adapt perfectly to the maxi format.
When you are at the head of a large family, recipes for pasta with sauce and stews are essential in your recipe book. Why ? The preparation time does not change, no matter how much is needed. In this sunny season, this is also the case for gratins and pies with vegetables and summer fruits. Recipes that are easy to make, endlessly adaptable, which are also easy to store.
For an outdoor family lunch, why not start preparing a giant paella? A sunny dish par excellence, paella is very satisfying and can be served directly in a serving dish, which will avoid spending time in the kitchen preparing the plates one by one.
As a dessert, pies and mousses become our best friends, and can even be prepared in advance, the day before the meal.
Except on special occasions, avoid recipes that require serving in individual portions, such as sandwiches. Instead, simply prepare a spread, which is served in a bowl, with slices of bread. Everyone will be able to prepare their own bite, which will considerably reduce the time spent in the kitchen, but also food waste.
Recipes broken down
The ideal solution for a large family is to break down the recipes as much as possible. The principle is very simple: you transform your dining table into an improvised buffet, by putting each component of the recipe on separate plates. For example, if you opt for Mexican tacos, there is no need to assemble them one by one. The guacamole, ground meat or chicken, and sautéed vegetables are served separately. Thus, it will be much easier to prepare everything in generous quantities, and each member of the family will be able to compose their own taco as they see fit. Result: the table is colorful, generous, and everyone is happy. Not bad is not it ?
The perfect summer menu for a large family
As a starter, there’s no need to look any further than a tomato carpaccio, garnished with fennel, marinated squid and cuttlefish. A light starter, ready in 15 minutes flat, which brings a touch of color to the meal. Once the food is ready, place everything in a large serving platter and generously drizzle with olive oil. The larger the family, the larger the plate, and the more visually appealing the result.
On the flat, there’s nothing like a giant pissaladière to win over the crowd. You personalize the filling according to your wishes, and those of your family, obviously using seasonal products with vitaminized and refreshing flavors such as cherry tomatoes or peppers.
For dessert, we melt for this frozen melon and yogurt mousse. We start the preparation the day before, by placing cubes of melon flesh in the freezer. Then, no need to think about dessert until it’s time to serve. We then take the melon ice cubes out of the freezer, before adding the yogurt and agave syrup. A recipe to taste very fresh, accompanied by thin slices of melon. Here again, to simplify the task, you can simply serve the yogurt in a large pot, and the fruit slices on a different plate.
