As we enter our first week of Tier-02, here’s a re-posted of our home cooking series. During May lockdown, the team here at Smith’s Catering London listed delicious, creative, and healthy dishes for you to make at home.
And even during this time of no parties canapés still have a place—not only as wholesome, healthy snacks but as tasty little pick-me-ups too. Also, if marriage is on the horizon, this might be a good opportunity to experiment with your wedding canapés ideas. Aside from anything else, they’re fun to put together at home.
So, as a quick introduction to the art of hors d’œuvres, here are seven creative ideas. They range in difficulty from very easy to moderately easy. And, in addition to eight of our classic savouries, we’ve also included an all-time favourite sweet. Let’s get started!!!
Very easy homemade canapés
Selection of classic triangles: Tuna paté with anchovies and green olive; cream cheese with black olive; anchovies with green olive
You can see how easy these are. In fact, the only part that involves any “cooking” is the tuna paté. And even that only takes a few minutes. Just combine some tinned tuna, cream cheese, and a little chopped garlic in a bowl. Then you’re ready to assemble.
Cream cheese and prosciutto salad on French bread
Here’s another use for that cream cheese: as a base for a classic ham salad. Served on a freshly sliced French baguette with tough and salty prosciutto, these have a distinctly continental feel. Furthermore, between the raw veg and protein, they’re pretty good for you too.
Maroulosalata bruschetta
“Greek salad” in Greece is known as maroulosalata. Romaine lettuce, spring onions, basil, cucumber, feta, and Kalamata olives make this more than just a healthy snack; they make it a sight to behold. So it’s perfect for canapés, here served on bruschetta with a herby vinaigrette.
Easy canapés
Green pistachio and goat cheese balls
Despite their ease, these are luxurious—like savoury Ferrero Rocher. And there’s more here than meets the eye. Beneath that toasted pistachio crumbles, there’s a flavourful mix of goat cheese, cream cheese, anchovy, watercress, herbs, and chives.
Mini Caprese salad
You can’t beat a Caprese; you can only keep making it better. But even without the finest tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil you can find, this Italian icon makes a fine canapé. Here we use bocconcini mozzarella and baby tomatoes to keep the canapé compact. This is one of our favourite here at Smith’s Catering.
Moderately easy canapés
Smoked salmon tartare with dill crème fraîche and caviar on buckwheat blini
What makes this moderately (as opposed to very) easy is the importance of balancing flavours. If you’re not used to working with caviar, that can mean trial and error. But these are worth it.
Now for the sweet. While there’s no cooking required (beyond melting butter for the base), there is some careful refrigeration and assembly involved. But these mini lemon cheesecakes are a classic favourite among guests at events that we cater at Smith’s Catering London.
So if you’re missing our canapés catering (or just Smith’s Catering in general!), you can recreate some flavours at home. And you might find yourself experimenting with more complex recipes too.