Olive tapenade

These days we don’t all have the time (or patience) to produce the sumptuous five-course gastronomic feasts that our mothers or grandmothers treated their guests to with seemingly effortless grace. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still entertain with a little flair.

Let’s start off with an old favourite: Caprese salad skewers. Not only is this possibly the most foolproof party food known to man, but living in the Mediterranean as we do, the ingredients are both common and relatively cheap. You will need cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and the ability to not impale oneself on a toothpick. A sprinkling of balsamic vinegar, or a balsamic glaze probably wouldn’t go amiss either. For some, a mouthful of fresh basil might be a little too overpowering, so one great alternative would be to omit the leaf in favour of a simple bowl of pesto as an accompaniment.

Another local party favourite is definitely that inescapable Maltese delicacy: the stuffed olive. Have a little think, reader, how many stuffed olives do you think you’ve consumed in your lifetime? How do we change that old classic into something just as tasty and easy to produce? I’ve got two words for you: olive tapenade. For the unfamiliar, tapenade is a French dip which shares many of its major ingredients with our beloved żebbug mimli, namely: pitted olives, anchovies, garlic and oregano.

All that’s required is a food processor and a dash of lemon juice for some extra flavour. Serve it by the bowl – with galletti (water biscuits), naturally – and watch your guests devour it with gusto.

If you stock up on frozen food in advance, chances are that you might already have this next dish just sitting around in your freezer, waiting to be utilised. Frozen tortellini or ravioli can quickly be turned into delicious party food with only a little bit of effort and ingenuity. You may have already tried deep fried ravioli at parties, but deep frying (whilst decadent and delicious) adds much more time to your preparation process – to say nothing about calories.

To toast frozen tortellini, just drizzle in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and pop them in the oven for around 25 minutes (turning once), until they’re golden and crunchy. Sprinkle these tasty mouthfuls with grated Parmesan when they’re fresh from the oven and serve with a simple tomato and basil sauce.

When it comes to crowd-pleasers, it’s hard to go wrong with bacon. Salty, crispy, and generally delicious, bacon is currently riding the high of a culinary trend that has it showing up in all sorts of unexpected recipes.

With that in mind, it may be time to retire the old bacon-wrapped party staple Devils on Horseback (to say nothing of Angels on Horseback, because, who really serves oysters at their family Christmas party anyway?). Basically, it’s difficult to find something that bacon doesn’t go great with, but for sake of simplicity, cost, and ease, I’m going to go with chicken.

For a sure-to-please batch of scrumptious bacon-wrapped chicken bites, you’ll need diced chicken breasts, a few packs of streaky bacon, and some seasoning of your choice. Wrap each bite-sized piece of chicken in a strip of bacon and secure in place with a toothpick before applying your seasoning. My personal suggestion for an unbeatably sweet taste to contrast the salty bacon, is to brush each piece lightly with honey; you can also add a bit of chilli powder, or a pinch of hot paprika for a bit of extra kick. Bake on a wire rack in the oven until the bacon has crisped and the honey has caramelised.

If you’re really strapped for time and looking for something memorable and delicious, you really don’t need to go any further than the produce section and the deli counter at your supermarket.

When in doubt, it’s hard to go wrong with a strong cheese platter, especially when you get a little creative with your complementary fruit choices. Grapes are the obvious go-to choice for every cheese platter, but there are a lot of other great fruit combinations available. Apples pair very nicely with brie, as well as sharp cheddars, while blue cheese is perfectly complemented by pears.