Quick steps for a casual supper

Back in the 1970s and '80s, I spent hours in the kitchen preparing for dinner parties. I thought nothing of making my own pasta, pâtés and pastries, and my menus were so long that they could take up a whole page.

Fast-forward to today. No longer do I feel that every morsel I offer guests needs to be prepared by me. And those bloated menus, which had us eating until midnight, have been sensibly reduced.

Take, for example, a recent small get-together my husband and I hosted. At the last minute, I invited another couple to come for a casual supper. A slice of chèvre served with lightly toasted bread slices and red grapes was all that was needed to get the evening off to a good start. For the main course, which was served and eaten in the kitchen, there was a pot of homemade carrot soup, a leek and pancetta tart, and a green salad.

I took advantage of several time-saving products. The potage was prepared with peeled baby carrots, and the salad was assembled with prewashed, table-ready greens. For the tart, which turned out to be the night's favorite dish, I used purchased puff pastry for the crust.

To prepare the tart, I cut out a 9-inch round from the dough and traced a border inside it. Then sautéed leeks bound with some crème fraîche were spread in the center of the pastry shell and topped with grated Gruyère and diced pancetta. When baked, the borders miraculously rise up to form the sides of the tart. Oh, and did I mention that I even found the pancetta already diced at Trader Joe's?

Betty Rosbottom is a cooking school director.