Crostini spreads – to buy ready-made or not to …

 ...that is the question!

Do whatever suits you – there are some great quality tapenade and pesto products out there. If you're going to use ready-made buy as good a quality as you can afford.

Here are recipes for both :

Tapenade

100g black olives, pitted

4/5 cloves of garlic (or equivalent tsps of paste)

1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

black pepper

lemon juice – try a dessert spoon – you can always add more

4 finely chopped anchovies, drained

75g chopped capers

Blitz the olives, then add the garlic, capers and anchovies and blitz again, briefly – you want a rustic paste, not mush. Tip into a bowl and add the oil, lemon juice and black pepper to taste – remember to taste as you go you can't take it back!

Pesto is vibrantly green! It's made from crushed basil leaves, toasted pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan and olive oil.

The following recipe serves 4, is easy and takes 10 minutes to make.

1 small garlic clove or equivalent roasted

pinch of sea salt

25g pine nuts, lightly toasted

50g fresh basil leaves

juice of half a lemon

125ml extra virgin olive oil

Use a small food processor. Put the garlic and salt in the bowl and pulse, then add the pine nuts and repeat until roughly chopped – don't overwork. Add the basil and pulse gently until well mixed but still retains texture. Turn into a serving bowl and add the Parmesan and lemon juice. Pour in the olive oil and mix to a paste. Season to taste.

You could make the pesto ahead and transfer to a jar with a tight lid (sterilised of course) – drizzle a layer of olive oil over the top of the pesto. It will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

If I had to choose one to make from scratch it would be tapenade every time – it really is scrumptious.

Tomato paste is a bit strong for my taste - if it's not cooked it has a bitter taste but preparing some of each will cater for everyone. A tip – a thin scrape of paste is all that's required!

One might say the Crostini is fiddly, but, almost all of it can be done in advance and you can take short cuts for example, you can buy sliced pitted olives, ready to blitz after draining.

Coming up – the risotto “spin-off” dishes

Crostini munching

As I've mentioned Crostini is small slices of bread, Bruschetta gives larger, more rustic slices. In other words, you can make small or large as suits the appetites of your guests. The smaller version is used as a canapé and sliced ciabatta is perfect - part baked baguettes work well too – larger sourdough loaves, sliced and toasted would satisfy larger appetites.

It's back to my lists again, but you'll see that it can be as easy or as complicated as you'd like to make it.

Ciabatta, baguettes or sourdough, sliced.

You can buy part baked baguettes, sliced – a gluten free option

is also available and works very well and you won't taste any

difference

Garlic (fresh or paste)

Olive oil

Tapenade*

Pesto*

Tomato puree*

Toppings

Finely chopped chilli – red and/or green

Goat's cheese – cubed or sliced

Any Italian cheese – e.g. Dolcelatte or Gorgonzola, cubed

Parmesan, Pecorino, Grand Padano (grated), Mozzarella and Taleggio

Olives, pitted and chopped

Mediterranean vegetables, roasted and diced

Parma ham, cut into small triangles, twisted into a cone shape

Salami, as for Parma ham

Anchovies, chopped finely

If you are using garlic paste add olive oil and mix to a paste. Spread sparingly onto the bread, then add any option marked * above. Complete with toppings of your choice – two – three – don't overload.

Whatever you choice of toppings chop, roast or dice ahead, place in small boxes, cover and fridge ready to dress your bread. My tip would be to top your crostini straight onto a baking sheet, lined with baking parchment, cover with cling film and set aside, keeping cool – fridge if you have room.

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6. Cook for 3-4 minutes (set your timer!) until golden and crispy.

Transfer to a serving plate and pass to the hungry hoards, pausing only for the accolades!

Spreads up next!

The back catalogue – pancakes anyone?

Another choice from Italian cicchetti – very useful in that these frittatine, or egg pancakes are made ahead, they are delicious stuffed with the broad bean cream.

Rotolini alla crema di fave

or

Stuffed mini pancakes with broad

bean cream

Serves 4

250g broad beans, fresh or frozen

30g robiola or similar cream cheese *

1 tbsp grated pecorino

4 eggs

3 tbsp milk

1 tbsp plain flour

2-3 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley

salt and black pepper

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

4 slices cooked ham (Italian if you can

get it)

Boil the broad beans until softened in lightly salted water for 5 minutes. Drain, cool and “pop”.** Place in a food processor with the cream cheese and the pecorino and blend until smooth. Season to taste.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the milk, flour, flat leaf parsley and salt and pepper.

In a lightly oiled, non-stick pan, use this mixture to make about eight small flat, thin omelettes, cooking them on each side for about four minutes. Make sure they are cooked through but soft enough to roll up. Leave to cool.***

Lay a slice of ham on top of each little pancake and spread with the broad bean and cheese mixture, then roll up and cut across into bite-size pieces, sealing each one safely closed with a wooden cocktail stick.

Chill until required.

*Robiola is very difficult to get hold of. You could use ordinary cream cheese or, for an extra tang, try Boursin – I appreciate that Boursin is French and Robiola is Italian but hey, needs must!

** and *** are elements that can and as far as the omelettes are concerned should be made ahead. To “pop” the broad beans, once cooled remove the outer thick skin.

Up next … another bread idea

The back catalogue – something different

Most of us only eat dates when hidden in a sticky toffee pudding – in other words when they don't resemble dates.

This next recipe is another cicchetti choice – it's “outside the box” - there's no avoiding the dates but it's worth the risk - the combination of sweet, salty and savoury works like a charm and is a perfect addition to your fusion mezze menu.

Dates wrapped in Parma ham

for 20 canapés

1 tsp of vegetable oil for greasing

20 dried dates – stones removed

20 small cubes of Parmesan or other hard cheese

10 slice of Parma ham, halved

Pre-heat the oven to 170fan/190c/Gas 5. Lightly grease a baking tray, large enough to fit all the dates. Remove the stone from the dates and replace it with a little cube of cheese.

Wrap each date in half a slice of Parma ham and fix each one closed with a wooden cocktail stick. Lay the dates on the lightly greased baking tray.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until the ham begins to crisp.

Serve hot.

Prep ahead, cover and fridge until you're ready to bake.

The fact that this morsel contains dates lends itself very much to Middle Eastern cuisine too and so, despite Italian in origin, it's the epitome of fusion and perfect for your mezze spread.

Up next … a Lebanese salad

The back catalogue – portable pizza

… for little fingers

This idea fits the bill for the kiddies – it comes from “cicchetti”, the Italian style of tapas and is a small version of a pizza shaped like a pinwheel.

Stromboli

400g prepared pizza dough

4 tbsp tomato paste

100g thinly sliced salami

120g baby spinach

100g thinly sliced mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp olive oil

Generous sprinkle of oregano or garlic Italian seasoning

Pre-heat your oven 220fan/200c/Gas 8. Place a large baking tray in the oven.

Place a dampened J cloth on your work surface. Place a piece of baking parchment on top of the cloth – it will stop it sliding – make sure you leave enough to get hold of – you're going to lift it onto the hot baking tray that's in the oven at the moment. Unroll the pizza dough gently on the parchment.

Spread the tomato paste onto the base. Add the slices of salami, followed by the spinach and then the mozzarella and sprinkle with the oregano or garlic Italian seasoning. Roll up the base from the shortest side and brush with the olive oil - make sure it's seam-side down when placed on the tray.

WITH CARE remove the tray from the oven and then carefully lift the parchment and the rolled up pizza onto it. Place back in the oven for 20/25 minutes until golden brown – check at 20 minutes.

When removed from the oven slice into portions to suit and serve.

This pizza is a big hit. Make your own pizza dough or not - choose any of your favourite pizza toppings to create your own Stromboli – it's the fastest pizza you'll ever make and a great addition to a mezze, thali or, in this case cicchetti – covers all the bases - sorry.

If you buy a ready to use pizza dough bear in mind it needs to be rectangular – to save your legs, especially at the moment – Asda make an excellent product which is found in the chiller, close by the butter.

Coming up – final bits and pieces for your mezze, thali, tapas or cicchetti!