Elliott's Christmas Recipes
As my day to day cooking is fairly rustic, the thought of making fiddly little traditional canapés can put me on edge slightly! So these delicious crostini are just perfect for when you’re entertaining over the Christmas holidays. They’ve been an absolute hit at my Winter Series cookery demos this year, and all 3 toppings can be made in advance so you’ll be nice and relaxed when guests arrive!
Just grab a baguette, and a few store cupboard items and off you go!
Merry Christmas, Jess
Elliott's Christmas Recipes
Relaxed Party Crostini
1 x baguette
Olive oil (or use the oil in the jar of artichokes below)
Preheat your oven to 180c (fan). Slice up a baguette into thin slices on a slight angle, drizzle with oil then bake for 10- 15 mins until golden. Just keep an eye on them and flip half-way through. Top with one or all of the ideas below:
Pear, Stilton and Walnut
1 pear, sliced into thin chunks
100g Stilton cheese
3 walnuts, finely crushed
Just layer up the cheese, pear and walnuts onto the toasts - easy.
Olive, Artichoke and Rosemary
1 x 280g jar of artichoke hearts
3 roughly crushed garlic cloves
Peel of half a lemon (I use a veg peeler for this)
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
Pinch chilli flakes
3 sprigs rosemary, leaves stripped, stalks removed
1 x 340g jar kalamata olives
Red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
Heat a few splashes of oil from the artichoke jar in a frying pan, then add the garlic, lemon peel, fennel seeds, chilli and rosemary. Fry until lovely and golden - taking care not to burn the garlic, then throw in the jar of drained kalamata olives and drained artichokes.
Throw into a food processor, then blend until chunky then add a tiny splash of red wine or cider vinegar to taste. Spoon onto the toasts.
(Any leftovers can be tossed through spaghetti for a delicious dinner!)
Whipped Butter Beans and Clementine Zest
1 x 400g cannellini beans, drained
1 small garlic clove, peeled
60ml extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt flakes
1 clementine
Blitz the beans, garlic, oil and salt in a food processor until silky smooth. Spoon on to the toasts then zest over the clementine. Add a final drizzle of your favourite olive oil if you like.
Quince and Apple Spritz
This spritzy little drink feels like a celebration of Britain’s orchards. It’s clean, crisp and beautifully aromatic
Makes a 1 litre jug, enough for 6 people
100ml quince cordial (I like Gimlet Drinks)
100ml apple eau de vie
50ml apple aperitif (I like Somerset Cider Brandy’s ‘Kingston Black’)
Ice
Sparkling water or prosecco
Stir together the quince cordial, apple eau de vie and apple aperitif with plenty of ice. Top up with sparkling water or sparkling white wine then serve up in glasses!
Comments