We’ve made a huge amount of canapés over this summer and have been on a quest to explore some new options that tie in with our changing menus. Over those that we’ve trialed there have been a few stand out additions that have made the cut for next season.

Each has a different level of prep work involved but of all 3 options below the great thing is they can be made up in advance and frozen, taking away from that last minute stress that can often come with fiddly canapé making. If you are prepping for an event yourself these can all be made easily by taking online recipes and adjusting them to suit the finger food template.

First up is Spanakopita cigars. A great take on a classic greek dish, this one involves making up the classic mix of feta and  spinach with fresh herbs and eggs to bind. Now instead of the multi layered traybake pie you are going to take the same filo pastry, cut it into rectangles and roll it around little sausages of the filling, being careful to fold in at the end and seal shut with some melted butter. Ensure the finished cigars are kept under cling film and packed tightly into freezer bags if freezing for later, or simply shallow fried in a pan for that instant hit.

One of our most loved canapés is arancini balls. They take a fair bit of prep but come together fantastically and are a real show stopper. For these ones we created a rich puree with roasted butternut and red chillis and mixed this in to our risotto. Once cooled we rolled these into balls, pressing smaller balls of mozzarella into their centres and gave them a panne. These can then be frozen at this stage or deep fried and then reheated in the oven later. For an extra element to these serve with a pot of aioli dip.

Finally our sweetcorn fritters have really done the business this year, a really affordable  but unusual option. Mix sweetcorn, coriander, spring onions, chilli, seasoning and eggs and flour to bind. These can then be spooned out into a hot pan and shallow fried. It takes a few attempts to get the right size and consistency but when you do these naturally level out into perfect bite sized balls of fun. What we do to give them an extra level of zing is make up a mango and habanero dip and place a dollop of this on top of each fritter before service. On top of this then a single coriander leaf as garnish or if you want to go the extra mile a chunk of avocado / ring of lightly fried chorizo.

All three of these are time consuming but easy enough to master, and all are guaranteed to keep your guests happy till the main event.

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If you want the full recipes give us a message here and we’ll send them over.

SPANAKOPITA CIGARS

BUTTERNUT ARANCINI

SWEETCORN FRITTERS

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