Though Labor Day and summer barbecues are in the rearview, the season of backyard get-togethers is still in the forefront. You’ve already upgraded the entertaining space and have a place where guests can relax; all you need now is to reimagine the menu.
While burgers and hot dogs are great, a pasta party may be perfect for your late-summer shindig. “Keep your pasta party elevated but still easygoing: family style meets farmers’ market,” says Jenna Tito of Broad Street Events in Spring Lake. “Offer two or three pastas alongside a few elegant, room-temperature sauces—for instance, lemon ricotta with herbs and zucchini ribbons or cherry tomato confit with burrata.”
And don’t shy away from using décor to carry out the theme. “Break out fancy linens and flatware,” suggests Aimee Peterson of The Perfect Shindig in Wyckoff. “Use cleaned-out tomato cans as vases and fill them with raw pasta, go heavy on tomatoes for table décor—the ones on the vine as well as single tomatoes of all sizes—and line the table with basil plants.”
Want more ideas? In her latest book, Swing By! Entertaining Recipes & the New Art of Gathering (Rizzoli New York), entertaining expert Stephanie Nass offers advice on how to make pasta the star of your show. Below are two recipes, one for farfalle-meatball bites and the other for a vodka sauce bloody Mary, that can make your next pasta party fun and festive.
Farfalle-Meatball Bites
Yields 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
- ½ lb. farfalle, cooked al dente the day of serving, tossed with olive oil and laid in a single layer on baking sheets
- ½ lb. ground beef
- ¼ lb. ground veal
- large egg yolk
- 1½ tsp. kosher salt
- 15 fresh basil leaves, halved
- ½ to 1 cup homemade tomato sauce, for dipping
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the beef, veal, yolk and salt. Roll the meatballs into grape-size balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Let rest until cool enough to handle.
On a toothpick, skewer 1 piece farfalle with 1 basil leaf and 1 meatball. Arrange on serving platter with the warm tomato sauce. Serve immediately.
Vodka Sauce Bloody Mary
Yields 8 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups vodka
- 4 cups tomato juice
- 5 Tbs. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 2 Tbs. red chili flakes (optional, for rim)
- ice
- 8 fresh basil leaves, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
In a pitcher, combine the vodka, tomato juice, 4 tablespoons of the lemon juice and the oregano. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
If making the chili flake rim, pour the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice into a shallow bowl and put the chili flakes on a shallow plate. Dunk the rim of each tumbler into the lemon juice and then into the chili flakes, turning to coat.
When ready to serve, add ice to each prepared tumbler, stir the cocktail and evenly distribute among the glasses. Garnish with a basil leaf.
All images and recipes published with permission from Swing By! Entertaining Recipes & the New Art of Gathering by Stephanie Nass (Rizzoli New York, 2024). Photography by Stockton Johnson.
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