PASTA DINNER TIPS
General Quantities for around 30 Athletes and Coaches
The following is the traditional pasta dinner recommendations: (Note: if you decide to do something different - feel free to get creative - the girls would love it!)
60+ breadsticks
30 cookies/Desserts
168 ounces of marinara sauce (no meat) - 1 large crock pot
2 large bags from Walmart of Caesar salad or 1 large Costco salad.
1 bag of baby carrots
2 pans of Mac N Cheese from Costco
5 lbs Pasta
120 meatballs- 1 crock pot
Any of 4 lbs of grapes, a pint of blueberries/raspberries, ½ cut apples, bananas, whatever is in season
Optional: 1 small crockpot of Alfredo. Can do less Mac N cheese instead
2 Choc milk, Small White milk- White milk does not get drunk much, but it feels like we should bring it anyway
Bring with you:
The bin provided by the booster club with plates, silverware, napkins, paper towels, extra serving utensils, and extension cords.
Cholorox wipes- it doesn’t hurt to wash down tables before and after the event.
Location:
Upstairs from the Elevator by the pool. You will be using the space past the stairway upstairs. The elevator may not be unlocked, the coaches will give you their key if needed or the lifeguards can help you get access to the elevator. (Wagons work great for getting the heavy stuff up)
The Janitors may not have set up the room until you get there. The tables and chairs are in the big closet in that space. You will need 35 chairs and tables for all 35.
Use 2 food tables, 1 drink, and a dessert table. Set up tables as one long table for the kids.
Janitors will clean after, but it’s nice to have some Chorlox wipes to not leave it a mess.
Food Notes:
A 9 x 13 pan of anything will feed 6-8 portions, if bringing lasagna or other dishes
6 lbs of dry pasta will feed 35 swimmers
1 large crock pot of marinara, Don’t add meat, unless you also have a meat sauce for kids, some are vegetarian, or have wheat allergies.
Plan on more pasta dishes and less sides. Figure on large serving sizes in your counts. Encourage them to eat the fruit, veggies & salad.
Breadsticks are a huge winner- plan on 2-2.5 per person
Woodmans Pre-made breadsticks are great. Can throw in a nesco and go.
Little Ceasers - crazy bread
Rosati’s: (608-245-1111) call to order. Location: 4933 Commercial Avenue, Madison has them.
Olive Garden is about 2X the price of Woodmans.
Rocky Rococos is $45 for 75 breadsticks, but they are small. I’d order more.
***You can choose to get your breadsticks elsewhere, this is just a suggestion.
Always check for food allergies. Provide a Vegetarian Dish always
Check for: GLUTEN FREE PASTA & VEGETARIAN DISH
Tips to preparing pasta ahead
Quantity: A 12-ounce bag of spaghetti makes 6 servings. Most kids eat more than 2 oz of pasta. 6 lb for 35 people is fine if there are other things too.
To cook pasta ahead of time: Cook the pasta in batches of 1 package at a time (you can have multiple pots going at once to speed things along), unless you have a very big pot. If you cook more than one pound at a time, the pasta sticks together too much
Once the pasta is to an al dente stage ( still a little firm in the middle) remove from heat and drain
Rinse with cold water immediately to stop the cooking process
Once fully drained, add a small amount of olive oil and toss throughout the spaghetti
Put the spaghetti into a 1-gallon ziplock plastic bag and store in the refrigerator Reheating
Leave spaghetti in bags and run bags under hot water to start rewarming and take the initial chill off. You can fill the sink or a large pot with water and let the bags sit to help with rewarming, changing the water as it cools off
Massaging the bags also helps to warm up the noodles in the middle of the bag
Once the bags are warmed a little, they can be taken out of the bags and placed in a large Nesco to reheat the rest of the way, with a little water.
Stir often to be sure that it is heated throughout
It takes about about 30 minutes to get the pasta back up to temperature so you either need to start ahead at home or arrive early enough to reheat onsite.
Tip: Sometimes it is easiest to use gloved hands to "stir" the pasta up and be sure that it's not sticking to the bottom-it can be hard to get such a large amount of pasta stirred otherwise.