Today’s recipes, in celebration of The Restaurant @ The Mill feature I’ve been running called ‘Winter Warmers’, I’m sharing my hearty ‘when dainty doesn’t do it’ canapés. One is a hearty snack in a slice and is also perfect for a light supper, or cut into slices to hand around with drinks. The other is for when you run out of time …
The Quick and Easy canapé:
Make sure you always keep a packet of garlic bread slices in the freezer. No need to defrost them – simply lay them on a baking tray. Grate a tasty cheddar cheese over the top, slice some tomatoes (halve cherry tomatoes, or thinly slice larger ones. Sprinkle some dried mixed herbs on the top, then season with black pepper. Bake in the oven, 190ºC until the cheese bubbles and the crust is crisp.
It’s perfect finger food AND quick to assemble!
Tomato and Bacon Ciabatta Slice
Serves: 8 as a supper dish, or cut up into slices to give around 20 slices as a canapéé
3 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes (chop them roughly in the juice, cutting off the stems)
500g passata (your supermarket will stock a variety, I use one with basil added to it)
Two large ciabatta breads
Eight rashers of back bacon (smoked or unsmoked)
Five or six cloves of garlic (or to taste) finely chopped
Dried mixed herbs (one teaspoon)
2 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
One large red onion, finely chopped
Grated ‘tasty’ cheddar cheese
Shaves of Parmesan cheese to finish
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A dessertspoon of olive oil
Using a large, heavy bottomed pan, tip in the olive oil and gently fry the finely chopped onion for a few minutes; add the chopped garlic and continue to fry until golden brown. Tip the mixture into a dish, then chop the bacon into small pieces and fry gently in the same pan.
When the bacon is lightly cooked, add this to the onion and garlic. Into the same pan tip the passata, the chopped tinned tomatoes, a few twists of sea salt and black pepper, 2 bay leaves, the dried mixed herbs and the finely chopped rosemary.
Tip back into the pan the onion, garlic and bacon. Bring to the boil and then simmer over a low heat to reduce this mix for about an hour. The tomato juices should have thickened so that the mixture will not soak the ciabatta slices, but sit on the top.
Slice the two ciabatta breads in half. You will need two baking trays, sit two halves alongside each other. Spoon the tomato mixture over the top, distributing it equally between the four slices of ciabatta. Layer generously with grated cheddar cheese and put in the oven at 190ºC for about 40 minutes, until golden brown on the top. Lay a few Parmesan shavings over the top whilst hot.
Slice as required. If serving as a supper dish add a fresh green salad. If serving as a hearty canapé, slice and serve on a small napkin. This is also delicious served cold, the next day.
The Winter Warmer collection will be free to download or print off, here on 2 February, 2014. Don’t forget to pop back. Tomorrow there is one more post to complete this series … and I do hope you’ve enjoyed visiting my kitchen.
Read chapter one hereviewBook.at/TheRestaurant