Entertaining is something I love to do, whether casual or little bit upscale. There is something about the gathering of friends and family that is always such fun and in my family, it always revolves around good food. Many of us are super busy and think we don’t have the time to entertain, however throwing together a festive Spring Party Platter with Roasted Carrot Hummus creates a quick and festive environment that everyone will enjoy.
The key to making a good party platter is to create one item from scratch and buy the rest of the food from your local deli and produce department. Carrot Hummus is a simple preparation of roasting carrots, then pureeing them in a food processor with a little Tahini paste, garlic and olive oil — that’s it!
The other items that are nice to include on the platter are; sliced meats like Prosciutto or Serrano ham, a wedge of good cheese, olives, bread and veggies for dipping. The simpler you make the entire platter the more elegant is actually looks — not too crowded, but enough choices to satisfy your guests. Choose some wines that compliment the platter; like Rose or Sparkling Wine and I always like to offer a non-alcoholic beverage either a juice spritzer or iced tea.
This Spring make it your best and throw a casual gathering, surrounded with delicious food. Keep it simple and make sure you post your comments and pics to my facebook or directly on my blog!
Ingredients
1 bunch carrots, washed, peeled and sliced in half
1/4 cup Tahini paste (sesame seed paste)
1 clove garlic, peeled
salt
pepper
1/2 cup olive oil + more for roasting
1 pound Prosciutto or sliced ham
12 ounce wedge aged cheese
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 baguette, sliced
1 cup marinated olives
(Serves 8)
To Prepare:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the sliced carrots on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the carrots with salt and pepper, toss to coat. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes.
2. Cool the carrots for 10 minutes on the sheet pan, then place in a food processor with tahini, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt & 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Pulse the carrots until coarse crumbs, about 15 pulses.
3. While the processor is running, drizzle in the olive oil, until smooth (about 1 minute).
4. Pour the Carrot Hummus in a bowl and arrange on the platter with the Prosciutto, cheese, sugar snap peas, olives and bread. Serve your Spring Platter when the guests arrive, enjoy!
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