YUM! Fruit salad sounds GREAT! You could have a side of cool whip for those that want a "little' more on their fruit......or a chocolate cake...?

or a fruit 'pizza' to go with the lasagna.

Wow - that's a lot of cooking!
How about something easy for dessert? Such as, ask people to bring one!

Your roaster oven will be way too deep for lasagna...But you could do a large pan in it. I have done lasagna in my 4 qt. roaster and you have to put noodles around the edge of the pan to prevent over cooking the edge. The way my family eats lasagana 5 pans wouldn't be enough, we only get 6 servings out of a 9"x13" pan. Nice thing about lasagna is that it freezes nicely, if you have any pans leftover. I have done 3 large pyrex dishes of lasagna at once and they took quite awhile to cook.

I'm with gardenspice thats a lot of prep work and cooking, although could be done a day ahead, I love lasagna the second day...seems I only make meatless lasagna, just noodles, eggs, sauce and LOTS of cheese.

Sue

Tough question. Depends on the pan size, portion size, the number of layers, how hungry the people are and how reserved they are about seconds or the like, number and type of side dishes and what ratio of adults to children. Also does it matter about leftovers?

Assuming a 9"x13" pan: Some figure 6-8 servings per pan. Some say up to 12. School lunch would probably be about 15-18! I'd probaby go with about 8 servings, that's a 4.5"x3" serving average. At that rate, 5 pans gives you 40 of these servings.

Making lasagna in the roaster is possible. It might work better to use a rack and put in two pans. And if you can get larger pans that would make more. Another option would be to prepare them in the oven and stack them in the roaster (with spacers between for air flow) to keep it hot.

I'm wondering if something like a macaroni hot dish or a baked ziti with meat would be a better option. Make it like lasagna only with different noodles. That would be pretty easy to make in the roaster and just serve it out of there. Less assembly time and leftovers can easily be bagged and frozen. You can also go deeper in the roaster with it than you could with lasagna so you could probably use the roaster for all of it. Let's see, an 18 qt roaster filled 2/3 way would be 12 qt, 4 cups to a quart, isn't it? If my math and feeble memory is right, that would be 48 one-cup servings. One cup might be a bit modest for some but again it depends on the group. You probably wouldn't want to fill the roaster more than 2/3-3/4 full. As I recall that's the max recommended. Maybe a slow cooker on the side or a pan in the oven if you feel more is needed.

Salad is a traditional side dish and it goes great with lasagna or a meaty hotdish, as does garlic bread. I might suggest a few dinner rolls in case some don't like garlic bread. How fussy is the crowd?

Fruit salad can be great, but it can be a bit heavy with the heavy meal on the menu already, if I did it, I'd do a dessert type and use it for dessert.

I would consider a crudités plate. Simple enough to do. Some baby carrots, celery sticks, green onions, radishes, etc. Light, crunchy to go with the softness of the lasagna and bread. Easy to prep ahead of time too.

With a dense, heavy meal like lasagna, I often skip dessert but when I do it I like something light and refreshing - something simple like sherbet. That might be a problem for your situation but a watermelon would be easy and refreshing. Easy to do and who doesn't like watermelon? Or angel food cake with berries? You could even buy the cakes and use frozen berries & Ready Whip.

Forgot to mention I've used my 4qt Nesco to make lasagna before. It was the first time I tried without boiling the noodles and it was fabulous. I'd suggest lining with heavy duty foil for an easier cleanup though. Also I recall Virginia Olson (from Nesco) recommending putting an extra lasagna noodle around the wall of the roaster (flat against the side, as a barrier since the heating element is essentially right against it, it would burn the edge. This way, it'd burn the sacrificial noodle and the remainder should be just fine.

Haven't made lasagna in a long time. Any pasta dish for that matter. Just picked up some lasagna (and other pasta) noodles. Maybe today is a good day for it. Although I have some ribs thawed. They'd go good in it though! :)

Good luck on your reunion. I'm sure it's going to be a great time. Don't obsess over the food. If people don't like it, tell them to order a pizza!

I must be getting old... OK another thing I forgot was suggesting cookies for dessert too. Easily made ahead of time. Do pan bars and it's even easier. Do a week ahead and freeze them if you like. Otherwise, a watermelon or something is still my preference. Guess you could have more than one! :)

hmmmmmmmm Cynic by gosh you kicked my brain here!! I already bought all the fixings for lasagna, but when you mentioned a different pasta type dish I think I remember seeing a mixed up lasagna recipe somewhere! I might consider that.

Dessert will be assigned to someone else now too I am thinking!

My younger sister and her 3 boys are coming home from Washington for the first time in 17 years and we have lots of family get togethers planned for the entire weekend. All our kids coming home, and grandbabies too, Uncle and his kids, friends of DSis's and also DD's best friend from high school will be here, so going to be fun and lots of eating! After the weekend is over there won't be quite as many and much more managable!

You ask for a dessert idea and I would suggest Tiramisu. Not only is it something you can make ahead of time easily in a large pan, it is Italian and would compliment the Lasagna main dish.

The advantage to making Tiramisu is that it can be made a couple days ahead of time. In fact, it will taste better the longer you let it sit for the flavors to meld. Tiramisu is practically foolproof to make and does not require using the oven. This frees up the oven for the main dish or side dishes.

It also tastes wonderful.

Check the link below for recipe ideas. I highly recommend using Roland ladyfingers if you can get them, but using other dried cakes can yield acceptable results. Any brand of marscapone will be fine, and you can use a recommended substitute if you are cutting costs. You do not have to use Marsala or any liqueur at all if your guests cannot have alcohol and the taste will be fine. You can use regular strong coffee if you do not have espresso. DO NOT substitute fake 'dessert topping' for the dairy whipped cream. It won't be good IMHO.

http://www.heavenlytiramisu.com/

http://www.heavenlytiramisu.com/rcp-143.htm

http://www.heavenlytiramisu.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: Tiramisu

Strawberry shortcake for dessert! Yum!

Here's a lasagna recipe for the Nesco roaster doesn't say if it's for the 18 qt. may be for the 12 qt. I still would do it in the largest pan that fits the roaster with a "air" space around it and as Cynic said use a rack.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lasagna in a roaster

I thought I posted yesterday, but it's missing. I was going to suggest that besides the lasagne, what about roasting a turkey the day before and slicing all the meat? Wrap in double foil and put out some rolls for sandwiches. The kids would probably prefer a sandwich to lasagne, especially if you have young ones. Love Cynic's idea of cookies. You can make those anytime and freeze them. 40 is a lot of mouths to feed and I wish you luck!! Let us know how it went.

You could stay with the Italian theme and buy frozen Italian ice (they usually sell them in quantity in the boxes, or if you belong to a Costco/Sams/other warehouse place, they might have them in bigger quantities).

But cookies are the easiest thing, for sure--and after a main course like lasagne, most people won't even want dessert, they'll be stuffed.

And not to question your menu, but would small dinner rolls with a butter/garlic dab on top be easier for you to prepare than the garlic toast (which takes up more space per piece on the cookie sheet)?

DSis bought up a big pan for the lasagna. She has worked in cafes all her life and picked this one up somewhere. I am not sure if I will break up the noodles and do the mixed up lasagna or not. Someone else is doing garlic toast, someone else has volunteered for dessert. I will do the salad that morning, piece of cake. The lasagna I am hoping to do ahead of time also. Need to make a Mn run to pick up DGD on Friday afternoon. Gonna be a crazy week-end. But I know those are the best kind! ;)

You can use any pasta with the same lasagna ingredients. In fact you could even use the lasagna noodles, break them up and cook them no-boil (skillet) style. Or boil them and cut them up and make a loose version.

Here is a link that might be useful: One example of Skillet Lasagna

I had 30 for a lasagna dinner. We had 8 women, 8 men and 14 kids. I found that women ate 1 piece about 3" square. Men ate 1 piece 4" square. 2 kids split one 3" square piece. We had other sides, as you will.

I made 3 pans, 9"x13"x3" deep, of lasagna that had 3 layers of noodles. I had almost 1/2 pan left.

There is no way I'd make 5 pans, unless you really love lasagna and want to eat it daily for a week after your event.