This is such an easy entertaining idea. It’s my ‘go-to’ solution for last minute parties and for having family over. The recipes below are all as simple as a recipe can be, they can be made in advance and then all you need to do when your guests arrive is pour yourself a glass of chilled white wine, toast your bruschetta and assemble your bar.

Add sliced deli meats, cheeses, crackers, rolled vine leaves, olives, stuffed peppers and anything else you fancy from the chilled counter of the supermarket. Fruit works well too, try figs or grapes and sliced apples and pears work well with the cheeses.

Pea Pesto

This really is the taste of summer! Spread it thick on your bruschetta and enjoy!

250g frozen peas, thawed
Big handful of fresh basil or mint
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1 lemon juiced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

This really couldn’t be easier! Put everything into a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds, taste and season accordingly.

Saffron tomato confit

I love this sooooo much that I’m now making it in huge batches, putting it into jars so that I always have some on hand for bruschetta, or pizzas or as a scrumptious, robust base for a bolognaise.

250g cherry tomatoes halved
A good spray of low calorie cooking spray
1 pinch saffron about 20 threads
1 tsp of brown sugar (optional)
Dash of balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Spray a nonstick pan with a good few sprays of cooking spray, add the tomatoes and place over a medium-high heat. Add the saffron and season with salt and pepper. Give the mixture a stir to combine.

As the oil starts to get hot the tomatoes will start to break down and split. When they do, reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Give them a stir and add a splash of water if they’re sticking too much. Keep over the low heat, stirring them every 10 minutes for the next 30 minutes. Add more water if you need to.

The tomatoes should now be falling apart, add the sugar (if using) and a dash of balsamic vinegar, stir through and leave for another 10 minutes.

Remove them from the heat, taste and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool.

Spread onto your bruschetta and top with ricotta or mozzarella or pesto or a slice of salami or…………… just enjoy it on its own.

Beetroot Hummus

Serve with crudités (vegetable sticks) bruschetta, bread sticks, toasted pita or homemade crackers.

1 x 400g tins chickpeas
2 small cooked beetroot, cut into chunks
juice & zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves or 1 tsp Lazy Garlic
2 tbsp light tahini
1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
salt and black pepper
Water

Drain the chickpeas (keeping the liquid, which you will use later) and place in a food processor with all the other ingredients, and blitz to a smooth paste. Gradually add some of the chickpea liquid (known as aquafaba) back into the blender and pulse until the desired consistency is reached. I use more liquid when I don’t add the oil.

Season generously with salt and pepper to taste. (Optional – Top with toasted pine nuts, sesame seeds and chopped parsley.)

Caramelised Onions

These are really the most delicious accompaniment for lots of dishes. Heavenly on hotdogs and hamburgers or pile them high on top of your bruschetta.

Low calorie cooking spray
2 red onions, sliced very finely (I used a mandolin)
1 tsp brown sugar (I use Demerara)

Spray a non stick pan with oil, place over a medium-low heat and add the onions. Spread them out over the pan and leave to brown on the bottom. Turn, scraping any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan, leave to brown again. Keep turning and scraping until the onion is translucent and starting to brown all the way through. Add the sugar and stir through until it has all melted and the onions are deliciously sticky. Serve either straight away piled onto a hot dog or leave to cool and add to your bruschetta platter.

Artichoke Tapenade

Another simple dish that turns this platter into a Mediterranean delight. Pile this tapenade high onto your bruschetta or a cracker and pair with a chilled glass of white wine. Heaven!

1 jar artichoke quarters in oil, drained.
12-15 green olives, coarsely chopped
¼ cup grated Parmesan
Big handful of fresh basil, torn up (save a few leaves to garnish)
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Zest of half a lemon
1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Put everything apart from the pine nuts into the food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped and blended. Put into a serving dish and top with the toasted pine nuts and basil leaves.

Sticky Sausages

These are lovely little bites of sticky sweetness. Serve them hot or cold with toothpicks to stop fingers getting too messy.

270 g pork cocktail sausages (18 sausages)
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 ½ tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp whiskey
¼ tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 210ºC

Put the mustard, honey, whiskey and salt into a bowl and mix well. Add the sausages and stir to coat with the honey mixture.
Put the sausages onto a baking tray and brush over the remaining honey mix from the bowl. Put into the oven and bake for 30 minutes turning halfway through.

Remove from the oven and serve.