“Come over for a drink and a few nibbles.” is the sort of invitation that’s easily given at this time of year, when goodness knows, we are all busy enough without having to spend hours over a dozen different little do-dads that end up taking more time and effort than the Christmas spread itself. What a shame though to miss out on renewing contact and informal entertaining because it’s all too much bother.

“Nibbles” is a vague term that some interpret as 20 different intricate little morsels, others as ripping open a packet of crisps. In this issue of Provisions, Karen Goodwin-Roberts has some ideas for easy nibbles to make from scratch (or perhaps with assistance from the deli counter). We also have some ideas for putting together a platter straight from the deli, chiller and shelves, and the middle ground – some of your own work together with something you have bought.

Whether you will be making most things yourself or buying the lot, plan ahead to save stress at the time. For a short drinks party plan to serve four to five pieces of food to each person each hour. If the party is to last the whole afternoon or evening, between 12 and 14 pieces of food per person will be enough.

A mix of cold and hot food is a good idea, and do as much as you can ahead to store in the freezer or an air-tight container until it’s needed. It’s very pleasant to have the smell of something cooking to greet guests and some “serve immediately” food is great – but make sure it is balanced with things that you can whip the lid from or just unpeel the cling wrap for it to be ready to serve.

Antipasto platter

An antipasto plate can come straight from the deli and jars. Select from cured and cold meats such as prosciutto, salami and ham; marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts and feta; marinated eggplant and capsicum; tender pieces of fresh fennel, tender celery sticks from inside the celery bunch, semisundried tomatoes; pickled green tomatoes, pepper “dews” and chilli stuffed with cheese, caperberries and olives are all easy to assemble.

Or stay with a seafood theme with Barilla Bay oysters in their shell, Freemantle sardines, pickled baby squid, octopus and cuttlefish, crumbed squid rings and a dipping sauce and/or mayonnaise and lemon wedges.

We have tiny Ligurian olives or you can dress up fleshy olives by marinating them for a week or two before the event – rinse and dry 750g of black olives, crush them slightly, then put them in a jar with a couple of tablespoons of crushed fennel or cumin seeds, a tablespoon each of crushed cardamom pods, allspice berries and dried red chillies, a dozen bay leaves and a strip of bruised orange zest. Cover with olive oil that has been heated then slightly cooled. Seal when cooled. Or you could do the same with thyme, crushed garlic and bay leaves.

A way of dressing up olives that takes less thinking ahead is to put about 300g in a dish with the zest of two lemons, a couple of diced cloves of garlic a glass of red wine, two bay leaves, some finely sliced sundried tomatoes and couple of sprigs of fresh thyme and a good grinding of pepper. Stir it all together and put them, covered, in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

You could marinate your own feta – we have Fage ewe milk feta from Greece – or bocconcini or yoghurt cheese. Try pureeing two cloves of garlic, ½ a cup of parsley leaves, ¼ cup of basil, ¾ cup of extra virgin olive oil, a teaspoon of toasted fennel seeds, the pared rind of a lemon and some cracked blackpepper. Pour that over about 300g of cubed feta or cheese balls and leave in the fridge overnight. As with everything on your antipasto platter, bring it to room temperature for serving.

Cheese platter

Don’t go overboard with too many types of cheese, three is plenty. Choose a firm cheese, a soft ripened cheese and a blue, goat or ewe cheese. Avoid too many extras, but chose from berries, grapes, muscatel raisins, walnuts. Pears go particularly well with blue cheese, as does a drizzle of VPC’s Truffle Honey. VPC’s Amber Walnuts also go well with cheese. Then there are all the fruit pastes. Maggie Beer has a new range that includes a Fig Paste that’s good with goat cheese, Parmigiano and cheddar, a Seville Paste that goes well with a sharp blue cheese, as does her Cabernet Paste.

Base line

A mouthful of smoked baby salmon with a special mayonnaise, or gravlax and a dollop of salmon eggs, rare beef and mustard with basil, a teaspoon of paté alongside Maggie Beer Caramelised Onion – all it needs is your imagination and something to put the tasty bits on.

There are many bases you can buy at the store and then just work out your toppings – crispbreads, wafers, melba toasts, Finn crisps, pumpernickel, mini oat cakes and vol-au-vent cases.

Then there are simple ideas, such as rounds of cucumber topped with something fishy or, to be seasonal, turkey and avocado with a dollop of cranberry sauce. Boiled eggs scooped out and refilled – say with anchovy and mayonnaise added to the yolk – are another standby.

In Karen’s recipe for tomato, leek and marinated feta tartlets, she tells you how to make a tartlet base from frozen pastry, which can also be used for other fillings – tomato and goat cheese perhaps.

Use a muffin tray to easily make cases to hold whatever takes your fancy. Cut the crusts from slices of thick toasting wholemeal bread, roll them with the rolling pin, then cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter. Press each round into the muffin hole and brush with melted butter or spray with oil and bake a 200C oven until crisp – between 7 and 10 minutes. Keep in an airtight tin until ready to use them. The same thing can be done with bought wonton wrappers. Spray a mini muffin tray with oil, push in the wonton wrappers, spray again and bake for 7 minutes at about 180C. Fill them with your favourite crab-meat recipe, Thai chicken or pork mix.

Make crostini by slicing a baguette into1cm slices, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt then bake in a 200C oven until golden.

It’s a wrap

Go Asian with a wrap of rice paper or spring roll pastry, or find a Middle Eastern favourite to wrap in mountain bread. Karen has a recipe using eggplant as the wrap.

A favourite wrap is prosciutto – wrap it around fresh melon, fresh figs or dates, dried figs, pears, grissini or asparagus spears that have been blanched, wrap them in prosciutto, brush with olive oil and then grill for half a minute on each side and serve immediately.

Dip into it

Once again there is a great deal you can buy straight from the chiller cabinet, such as our house label dips – avocado, tzatziki, taramosalata, olive red pesto, coriander and, of course, hummus.

Buzz up bought hummus with some cooked, peeled and chopped beetroot or half a cup of chopped mixed herbs or chopped semisundried tomatoes, a touch of chilli oil or some good extra virgin olive oil.

Have corn chips, toasted pitta bread or crisp vegetables such as radishes, celery, carrots, fennel or cherry tomatoes to dip into the dip. Make the pieces small so they are one mouthful only and no-one is tempted to double-dip.

Size down

Choose a recipe you are familiar with and adapt it or do a mini version of it - mini pizza (keep the slices or rounds small so that the toppings don’t slide off), meat balls, sushi, Thai fish cakes, frittata, tartlets, fritters, marinated chicken wings (with the tips cut off), tiny pork spare ribs or scotch eggs made with quail eggs.

Sandwich it

Sandwiches can seem so naff, but often are favourites at parties; just keep well away from anything reminiscent of school lunches.

Ask the deli assistant to shave some Wursthaus or Ziggy’s leg ham very finely and put it between pieces of crustless bread in “wavy” layers with some Dijon mustard. Use poached chicken chopped finely and mix it with finely chopped celery and walnuts and mayonnaise and put in crustless bread with a few leaves of rocket.

Mix canned tuna, celery, spring onion, a dash of Tabasco sauce, a squeeze of lemon and mayonnaise. Make asparagus rolls – spread grainy bread with soft cream cheese, lay blanched asparagus spear on the diagonal and roll from corner to corner. Keep prepared sandwiches fresh by covering them with a wetted tea towel well wrung out.

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