2019 Pasta Feed Advice from the Reinwalds:
Here's the breakdown of what we purchased for today. It took every bit of this for the size group we had. I didn't count but I suspect it was between 60-75.
Pasta- 15 boxes of spaghetti
Sauce- 14 jars of marinara sauce
Garlic Bread- 6 loaves
Mixed Greens Salad- 2 tubs
Cookies- ~100
Watermelons- 2
Parmesan Cheese- 2 shakers
Salad Dressing- One Italian, One Ranch
Paper Plates- 100 heavy duty paper plates
Plastic Forks- 100
Napkins- 200
Water- 4 cases
A couple tips.
Older Pasta Feed information:
We usually have a team pasta feed before each of our races. This is Peyton Siville's Grandmother's recipe for a pasta feed for fifty people:
4 small jars cream sauce
2 large jars plain sauce (4 lbs 3 oz)
3 large jars meat sauce (4 lbs 3 oz)
4 pounds meat
10 pounds spaghetti
3 bags petite hoagie (18 count/bag) from Sam's
2 pounds butter
2 bags salad mix (head lettuce with carrots) from Sam's
1 large jar Kraft cheese
2 bottles ranch dressing
2 bottles your choice salad dressing
For weekday pasta feeds (Tuesday nights before DVAL races) we usually have closer to forty people. The following ingredients should be sufficient (Thank you Elisabeth Cox):
7-8 pounds of pasta
4 jars cream sauce
1 large jar plain sauce (4lbs 3oz)
2 large jars sauce for either meatballs or meat (4 lbs 3oz)
4lbs of meat or 1 large bag of meatballs from Costco
2 bags of dinner rolls (36 count ea)
1 lb of butter
2 bags of salad
2 bottles of dressing
cheese - enough to fill a soup bowl
Here's the breakdown of what we purchased for today. It took every bit of this for the size group we had. I didn't count but I suspect it was between 60-75.
Pasta- 15 boxes of spaghetti
Sauce- 14 jars of marinara sauce
Garlic Bread- 6 loaves
Mixed Greens Salad- 2 tubs
Cookies- ~100
Watermelons- 2
Parmesan Cheese- 2 shakers
Salad Dressing- One Italian, One Ranch
Paper Plates- 100 heavy duty paper plates
Plastic Forks- 100
Napkins- 200
Water- 4 cases
A couple tips.
- We could have gone with a couple more boxes of pasta and a couple more jars of sauce. There was enough for everyone to have their serving but the last served didn't have as much as the first served.
- We could have used another 2 loaves of garlic bread
- We put out the sliced up watermelon about 15min before we put out all the pasta. It was eaten very quickly. We could have used more. It did act as a good appetizer.
- We used 7 or 8 aluminum turkey cooking trays to serve all the food in. It made cleanup a lot easier and we frankly didn't have enough large serving dishes otherwise.
- We used a couple crock pots to heat up the pasta sauce. This was a life saver since it was easy to serve this way and it opened up the range for making the pasta.
- Although we didn't serve a white sauce, it is an option since there are some runners who prefer it. With a group this size, it was one more ball in the juggling mix we didn't want to add. It's best to check in with Coach about diet restrictions ahead of time. This wasn't a problem with our basic menu but it could have been.
- We could have used another container of cookies
- Make sure to have something for the runners to put the donations in. A shoe box is fine. They'll break change and self manage. No need to make it secure.
- Besides the food, the more activities you have ready for them, the better: cornhole, mega jenga, spikeball, basketball, etc.
- If you have a few extra fold out chairs, set them out. Some kids will show up without chairs.
- Lighting is important, particularly later in the season when it gets dark early. After eating the team has a pre-race routine and it's nice if they can see each other. If you have extra lighting available, hook it up.
Older Pasta Feed information:
We usually have a team pasta feed before each of our races. This is Peyton Siville's Grandmother's recipe for a pasta feed for fifty people:
4 small jars cream sauce
2 large jars plain sauce (4 lbs 3 oz)
3 large jars meat sauce (4 lbs 3 oz)
4 pounds meat
10 pounds spaghetti
3 bags petite hoagie (18 count/bag) from Sam's
2 pounds butter
2 bags salad mix (head lettuce with carrots) from Sam's
1 large jar Kraft cheese
2 bottles ranch dressing
2 bottles your choice salad dressing
For weekday pasta feeds (Tuesday nights before DVAL races) we usually have closer to forty people. The following ingredients should be sufficient (Thank you Elisabeth Cox):
7-8 pounds of pasta
4 jars cream sauce
1 large jar plain sauce (4lbs 3oz)
2 large jars sauce for either meatballs or meat (4 lbs 3oz)
4lbs of meat or 1 large bag of meatballs from Costco
2 bags of dinner rolls (36 count ea)
1 lb of butter
2 bags of salad
2 bottles of dressing
cheese - enough to fill a soup bowl