5 Amazing Recipes to wow your friends

Some people like to cook and if you are foodie then you want of course food you can make that isn't too difficult but tastes amazing. If you are cooking for friends or family then you'll want to up the ante when it comes to delivering the best foods possible. There are some dishes you can make which are simple to do and others that could take more time.

Either way, this post is to share the best 5 recipes coming from dhrecipes which features simple recipes that everyone can make and are absolutely delicious.

Chicken Stroganoff
http://dhrecipes.com/poultry/chicken-stroganoff/

Not too complicated to make and is absolutely delicious. Just service this on some egg noodles of your choices and enjoy.

Paella
http://dhrecipes.com/poultry/paella/

Most people are intimidated by paella but you can make this fairly easily.  Give it a try, it is worth the effort.

Green Tea Beef Yakitori
http://dhrecipes.com/meat/green-tea-beef-yakitori/

If you want to show off and get fancy, you can do it with this recipe.  The recipe is a tad spicy and the flavours are immense including the green tea in the marinade.

Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
http://dhrecipes.com/pasta/spaghetti-aglio-e-olio/

Perhaps a difficult name to pronounce, this recipe is simple and tastes so good.

Thai Green Curry Chicken
http://dhrecipes.com/asian/thai-green-curry-chicken/

If you like spicy food, you can try this recipe. This is yet another simple recipe that intimidates a lot of people but is really easy to make and it is so rich in flavours.

3 Cheese Vegetarian Lasagna

This is a beautiful vegetarian lasagna that features 3 different types of cheese and maybe 4 if you count cottage cheese. This lasagna is easy to make but does require a bit of planning and preparation especially in preparing the sauce which requires a lot of time but is time you can watch tv.

Ingredients

Most of the ingredients below are to prepare the sauce

• 1 can of diced tomatoes (800 ml)
• 1 can of whole tomatoes (800 ml)
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• a few pinches of Italian seasoning
• 1 celery stick
• 1 green pepper
• 1 white onion
• 1 zucchini
• coriander, a small handful
• 2 cloves of garlic
• spinach
• 400 grams of cheddar cheese
• 250 grams of mozzarella cheese
• 100 grams of parmesan cheese
• 500 grams of cottage cheese
• lasagna noodles
• 100 ml cream

Cooking Preparations & Instructions

The sauce is the main base of the lasagna and this requires the most time while the end of the instructions involves assembling the lasagna in your tray. 

1. Empty both cans of tomatoes into a large sauce pot and put on low heat. 
2. Add the following ingredients to the pot: salt, pepper, two tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning
3. Simmer the pot for 2 hours to slowly cook the tomatoes and allow the other ingredients to change the taste of the sauce from a fresh raw tomato to a warm seasoned sauce
4. Add in the chopped celery, chopped coriander and spinach to the sauce
5. In a separate sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the chopped green pepper, onion and zucchini on low heat and when cooked for 20 minutes, add it to the sauce. 
6. Add in the cream to the sauce and stir
7. Simmer for another 2 hours and stir the sauce every 10 to 15 minutes
8. In your lasagna baking trey take a spoon and scoop some of the sauce and spread it on the bottom of the trey. This helps to ensure the lasagna noodles at the bottom get moisture and cook instead of staying hard
9. Next is preparing the lasagna and there are 3 main levels of the noodles. So start with one layer of noodles at the bottom and avoid overlapping any of the noodles. Then with a straining spoon take some of the sauce and spread it on top of the noodles, use about 1/3 of the sauce. Then add in a layer of shredded cheddar cheese and follow it up with 1/3 of the cottage cheese.
10. Add another layer of noodles on top and repeat adding sauce, then mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese.
11. Then add another layer of noodles and add sauce, cheddar cheese and cottage cheese.
12. Finally add in the last layer of noodles
13. On top of the noodles you'll want to add a thin layer of sauce to make the noodles moist so they don't remain hard. Then add in the remaining cheddar cheese and also sprinkle your parmesan cheese on top. 
14. Put your oven on to 375oC, cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and place into the oven for around 45 minutes.
15. After 45 minutes take off the foil and leave in the oven for another 10 minutes to allow the top to cook a bit more and especially to let the top layer of cheese to melt
16. Turn the heat off and you can let sit in the over for another 5 minutes before taking it out. Of course use common sense to judge when your lasagna might be ready as it is about 1 hour cooking time.

That is your vegetarian lasagna. You can easily turn this into a meat lasagna or add other ingredients you like to go with your lasagna. 

This lasagna goes well with a small vegetable salad, a baguette and a bottle of red wine. That is a bottle of red wine for you and your guests. This lasagna should be enough for 4 to 6 people depending on the portion size. 

Bon Appetit!

Simple Italian Pasta Sauce with Penne

This recipe is a simple Italian pasta dish that anybody can make. It is very simple to make but does require a bit of time for the sauce to simmer and develope a good taste. The pasta sauce is made with canned diced tomatoes although you could use fresh tomatoes. If you do prefer to use fresh tomatoes for the base of the pasta sauce you should simmer the tomatoes first for a few hours before getting started on the rest of the sauce. You'll want the sauce to have a perfect taste to it and not have that raw fresh tomato taste which will be too strong if you don't give it enough time on low heat.

The main ingredients are really for the sauce but the pasta itself that is recommended is a penne. To accompany the pasta you can choose to make a fresh garden salad with balsamic vinegrette and also a baguette or 2. For the baguettes you can choose to make a garlic bread with fresh garlic and olive oil. This recipe should make enough pasta for 4 people.

Pasta Sauce Ingredients

• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 green pepper
• 1 white onion
• 150 grams of mushrooms
• 2 large cans of diced tomatoes (800ml per can)
• teaspoon of salt
• teaspoon of Italian seasoning
• pinch of black pepper
• pinch of flour
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 400 grams of spicy Italian sausage
• 100 mL of cream
• 800 grams of penne pasta

Cooking & Preparation Instructions

1. Empty the 2 cans of tomatoes into a sauce pot and turn on low heat and let simmer for about 2 hours.
2. Add the olive oil, salt, black pepper, crushed garlic and Italian seasoning to the sauce.
3. Cut up all the vegetables: mushrooms, onion and green pepper and place into a sauce pan on low heat and add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook for around 40 minutes.
4. Take the Italian sausages and remove the meat from the skin and produce small meatballs. Place this into a frying pan and add in a touch of olive oil and cook for around 40 minutes. 
5. After cooking the vegetables and sausage add it to the sauce pan and let it simmer for around 1 hour. You can choose to add a pinch of flour to the sauce if you want to thicken it up a little. 
6. Cook the penne pasta in boiling water and at the same time turn off the heat on the pasta sauce. 
7. Once the pasta is cooked, strain the pasta and prepare to serve.

Just before the pasta is about to be cooked you can take 2 garlic cloves and crush them into a small sauce pot and add in 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil. You can cut your baguettes in half and put them in the oven. Once they are heated you can remove from the oven and slowly pour your garlic oil onto the bread.

You can serve this dinner with a glass of red wine and enjoy!