Side Dish Ideas

[tara17]

Hi, all!

I'm having some friends from work over Friday night instead of going to the lame office holiday party. I'm planning on making Giada's pancetta-wrapped pork roast (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...). Any ideas for a "starchy" side dish? I have the vegetable planned and dessert and everything. I don't want to do just boring mashed potatoes, but need something special. Thanks!

[nemo]

Pumpkin ravioli in sage-butter.

[kramos]

One of my favorite side dishes with pork is herbed spatzle: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10711 but the mushroom and fennel bread pudding would be warm and comforting too and you could make it the night before and just reheat: http://www.chow.com/recipes/11145

[foxy fairy]

How about pumpkin risotto? Serve it in the pumpkin. Mmmmm. Bake the pumpkin first - it will melt into the risotto. Use leftovers (if any!) to make adorable and delish risotto balls the next day. This is special and exquisite.

[karykat]

How about marbleized root vegetables from epi. Comforting like mashed potatos but a little different and pretty too. I think it would go well with your pork. It's basically mashed potatos that are marblized with a mashed carrot, parsnip and turnip mixture. Here's the link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[chef chicklet]

I would make lima beans, either the large or small, bake with pancetta or bacon, onion, bell pepper, tomato sauce, and brown sugar. Either crock pot or in the oven for about 4 hours.- Delish.

[sweetTooth]

Do you have The Joy of Cooking? For a dinner party the other week, I made a sweet potato and apple side from it. I forget what it was called. Will look it up and let you know. Essentially, you peel and slice about 2 lbs sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Pick a wide heavy nonstick skillet and add some butter and sweet potato (and apple, but I omitted those) slices, followed right after by some orange juice(1/4 c, I think) and brown sugar (2 tablespoons or so). Then you cover and cook until the potatoes are cooked through. Next, uncover and let any juices evaporate, stirring carefully a few times. I let them sit on low undisturbed to brown a little. Can be made ahead and just reheated in the microwave.

[mlgb]

As long as you've got the oven on I'd just oven roast some mixed fall veggies--winter squash, beets, potatoes would look nice together. Drizzle with olive oil, maybe toss a few sage leaves in there for decoration.

[jennywinker]

I made Pumpkin-Sage Polenta from Cooking Light for Thanksgiving. It was crazy good! I served ham rather than turkey, and it works great with pork.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/rec...

[512window]

This looks like a tasty recipe but way too much parmesan (a full cup!) for me. Did you use all of it?

[jennywinker]

I used the 3/4 cup that goes into the polenta, but I didn't add extra on top. (Too many things going on and I forgot.) Maybe it's that cheesy goodness that made it so tasty.

[maplesugar]

Starchy side dish ideas:

Potatoes gratin/scalloped potatoes (starchy warm goodness)
Roasted potatoes (easy to prep ahead)
Sweet potato fries (for some this would be a twist on the familiar)
Polenta torte (layered polenta dish that can be filled with almost anything)

HTH :)