The past weekend was my dad’s 58th birthday. We celebrated by hosting a big sit down party in my dad’s new apartment. The house is pretty small for 35 people but since there isn’t that much furniture yet, it was a perfect time to organize a dinner party. Tables had to be rented to seat everyone and it all looked gorgeous, almost like a real restaurant. I helped out with the food: I made three dips ( this beetroot dip, hummus and the avocado dip ) and the pumpkin soup for appetizers, and then I made a big salad for each table to serve after the mains. Our mains were risotto Milanese, red lentil stew and a meat dish for who wanted (almost everyone…yes, in italy there is still lots of work to do for the vegetarian fans).
Sorry, the photos are not that good, I was taking them with my phone while I was being the dj and helping out in the kitchen, oh well!

Although I think proper dinner parties are great, they take a lot of time and prepping, so I always say the best way to do it is having every guest bring something so it becomes SOO much easier for the host. But everyone does it their way 🙂

This beetroot dip has a great color to it, in fact it could be an awesome Halloween dish since it almost looks like blood! I made it the day before and tasted even better the following evening, the flavors blend in together.
If you can’t find fresh raw beets you can always use the already cooked ones you find at the store, but fresh ones are always prefered.
Oh, and this recipe was inspired by Jerusalem’s book by Ottolenghi. One of these days, I will try to make it vegan and substituting the greek yogurt.. 🙂

Ingredients:
-3 medium beets, washed
-1 clove garlic, peeled
-200gr greek yogurt
-1 tbls maple syrup
-2 tsp cayenne powder
-2 tbls olive oil
-salt
-a handful of hazelnuts (to garnish)

Cut the beets in 4, leaving the skin on and put in a baking dish with a drizzle of olive oil. cover with foil and cook for 1 hour or until a fork can easily slide in them.
Peel the beets and chop them roughly, then put into a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
You can refrigerate if using later. serve at room temperature.
Just before serving, toast some hazelnuts, chop them and add to the dip with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

These were the three dips and the pumpkin soup served in small cups:
This was the front door:The ridiculously huge tiramisu for desert (at least 3/4 leftover!):

One of the messy tables after desert:
These were the salads I made, ready to be dressed with a ginger-tamari-lemon-olive oil dressing: