Usually a sausage ragu and Brian Lagerstrom's foccacia. Honestly the foccacia is the real star, I make it for every guest the first time they come over for dinner, even the 2 hour version is delicious. The dough requires a little bit of work but it's straight forward and I've never had a bad result. Main course just needs to be something Italian or Italian adjacent that doesn't need the oven, since I try to have the bread ready a few minutes before serving. Ragu's a staple for us because you really just need five ingredients (pasta, crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic and italian sausage) and it's mostly just sitting around waiting for things to cook, so you have time to talk to your guests.
Usually a sausage ragu and Brian Lagerstrom's foccacia. Honestly the foccacia is the real star, I make it for every guest the first time they come over for dinner, even the 2 hour version is delicious. The dough requires a little bit of work but it's straight forward and I've never had a bad result. Main course just needs to be something Italian or Italian adjacent that doesn't need the oven, since I try to have the bread ready a few minutes before serving. Ragu's a staple for us because you really just need five ingredients (pasta, crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic and italian sausage) and it's mostly just sitting around waiting for things to cook, so you have time to talk to your guests.