Looking for easy veggie 'canapés'

[Nospringflower]

Hi, having a few folk round for drinks and trying to make some nibbles that can be prepared in advance so that they aren't too much hassle on the night. Was thinking about making Yotam Ottolenghis sweet potato wedges wedges but would like to do a few different things. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

[sapphirestar]

Filo pastry parcels with goats cheese and red pepper are lovely and you can stick them in the fridge until you want to cook them. Will try and think of more!

[sapphirestar]

Tomato, basil and mozzarella bruschettas?

[MacAndCheese]

Mini scones with goats cheese and red onion chutney?

[herladyship]

Mini kebabs (cocktail sticks with halloumi & olives)

Crostini topped with soft cheese sprinkled with chives

Cucumber, sliced at an angle to give an oval, with Stilton on

hungry now!

[Nospringflower]

Thanks everyone - they sound great ideas but I am not very creative and so need recipes/instructions for how to do them eg can you do bruschetta in advance or does it go soggy, how do you do the filo pastries?

[sapphirestar]

filo - just brush two sheets of the pastry with melted butter and stick one on top of the other, put some goats cheese and red pepper in the middle (raw pepper is fine, or you can roast it beforehand if you prefer the sweeter taste of roasted peppers) the brush the edges of the square with melted butter, and then just gather it up so it closes the parcel at the top, bake for around 12-15mins until golden.

bruschettas - slice a french bread stick into 1/2cm slices, mix olive oil and 2 crushed garlic cloves together and spread onto a baking tray. Press the bread slices into the oil (make sure both sides are covered) and then bake until crisp, probably 5-10mins but making sure they don't burn! Once they are cool they will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container without toppings, then you can add mozzarella/tomato (or whatever you fancy) just before serving.

I made both of these before and have gone down really well, but I fear I haven't explained myself very well, so once I've got dd to nursery in the morning I shall make it a priority to dig out the recipes for you!

[Nospringflower]

Thanks south for that - will definitely do both as love the sound of them. It's for Friday night so will let you know how I get on .

[Nospringflower]

Don't know where south came from! Was meant just to say thanks for that!

[sapphirestar]

You're welcome, although I'm hungry now! I was wondering where south came from too! Will post recipes if i've made any glaring errors above!

[ravenAK]

Little roasted veg/mozzarella tarts.

Oven roast chopped veg eg. peppers, aubergine, courgettes, red onion, cherry toms, mushrooms, garlic - just shove in a baking tray, drizzle on some olive oil & balsamic vinegar, & roast for about 20 minutes.

Cut ready made puff pastry - you can use a circle cutter, but actually just slicing it into squares looks quite good! Push each circle/square into one hole in a bun tin. Add half a teaspoon of pesto, a spoon of your roasted veg, & half a mozzarella pearl.

Stick in the oven for 15 minutes until cheese is melted & pastry golden.

You can do a posher looking version with filo pastry - cut three sheets into squares, then layer three squares in each bun hole, each at an angle to the last so you end up with a 'star' effect - brush with melted butter between each layer.

[sashh]

mango chutney and brie in the same filo parcels described above.

Get a half baguette, slice thinly and bake the slices in the oven for 10 mins so they are dry almost like a crisp bread.

Top with

cream cheese and olives
mango chutney with or without cheese
half cherry tomatoes with cream cheese
egg mayo (if they eat eggs)
sliced cucumber with any of the above added

[sapphirestar]

Right, my recipe says 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, and 1 clove garlic, crushed for the bruschettas. It also says bake for 20mins but depending on how fierce your oven is, you'll have to keep an eye on them!

Mango chutney and brie in filo parcels also sounds delicious, I may have to give them a try!

Good luck, hope they go down well!

[Nospringflower]

Thanks for all your help. Everything turned out really well (especially the bruschetta) and was washed down nicely with a few bottles of Fizz . Loved the filo parcels as well and made some pastry/tarts with pesto, toms and mascarpone.

[sapphirestar]

I was wondering how you'd got on! Did you save any for us?