My go-to approach is beef goulash, Austrian style. It’s a bit laborious (although the steps are easy), but the dish can (and should) be prepared in advance, then you prepare a simple potato mash as you get ready for the person.

Vegetarian guest? Seitan goulash tastes really good.

Korma based on Patak’s Korma paste. Onions (1-2 depending on size), chopped Chicken breast (1000g), Korma paste. Let it brown a bit. Put in coconut milk (800ml), let it simmer for 20-30 min. Put in Korma paste to taste. Now put in cream (200-250ml) and put in more Korma paste to taste. Serve with rice.

Things to watch out for:

• The korma paste needs to be cooked for a minute or so before it tastes good. Putting some in after cooking will taste terrible.
• The cream should be cooked as short as possible or it will coagulate. That won’t affect the taste, but it will affect looks and texture. So it should be seasoned as close to correct as possible before you put in the cream.

If you have more time and want to impress more: Juicy Lucy Burgers.

For the patty you need ground meat (1000g), finely chopped onions (2-3 depending on size), salt, pepper and worcestershire sauce (2-4 tea spoons).

You then spread the meat really thin on a glass cutting board (or other really smooth surface, worst case aluminium foil works too). Slice some cheese really thin and place it on the meat. Put another thin layer of meat on top of the cheese and “seal” the cheese into the meat, so that it’s completely covered on all sides. Lift the meat from the board using a big knife and fry it in a pan.

Serve in a brioche bun with toppings of your choice.

Regarding the cheese: since the cheese will be getting much more heat than cheese usually does on a burger, don’t use the usual processed soft cheese,but instead real cheese like Gauda (if you want it mild), Emmentaler, or if you want something really special, some harder kind of blue cheese (I am using Österkron, but I am sure it’s not internationally avaliable).

Spaghetti aglio e olio. Sounds fancy yet it could not be simpler. Cook spaghetti or linguine or my favourite angel hair pasta. Meanwhile peel and slice garlic. Heat good quality EVOO in a pan and when the pasta is nearly ready toss in the garlic (I also like to add in sliced red chilli). Once garlic starts turning light golden toss in the pasta with a little bit of the pasta water and mix together. Serve sprinkled with shaved parmesan and some finely chopped parsley, oregano, marjoram or any green herb of choice for a little bit of colour (optional). Nice crusty garlic bread on the side and for a couple of bucks and 20 minutes of your time you’re sure to impress anyone.

Spaghetti with Salmon.

I usually just go for lasagna, either classical or a vegetable lasagna. I wouldn’t say it’s terribly impressive, but most people like it. And it has the huge advantage of being able to be prepared in advance, so I save myself the trouble of getting extremely stressed over finishing the meal in time but not to early. The béchamel sauce might take a few times to get right but after that it’s not hard to prepare.