PRUE LEITH’S STAGGERINGLY GOOD NIBBLES

WITH PARTY season kicking off, my mind turns to canapes, but somehow caviar on a blini isn’t quite the thing in a recession, any more than smoked salmon and avocado with a pomegranate-seed topping.

So how to do party food without breaking the bank? And also, without having to spend for ever fiddling with little bits and pieces?

Tiny things are fine if a waiter is handing them round on a plate with a handful of napkins in the other hand, as in posh cocktail parties. But if you are entertaining on a budget, how much friendlier and more satisfying to have a groaning table full of good things, rustic and enticing, and have the guests make their own?

The answer is to have a series of delicious but inexpensive dips into which an assortment of biscuity things can be dunked. The base for the dips could be the obvious hummus, but ‘poshed up’. Buy a big tub of plain hummus (Ramona’s Heavenly Hummus is £3 for 500g, ocado.com). Divide it into three. Flavour one heavily with finely chopped black olives (90p can, Waitrose) and fresh garlic. Flavour the next third with a whole red pepper, pureed, a squeeze of lemon and a touch of chilli. And the last third with a heap of finely chopped herbs.

Other offerings could be cream cheese dosed with fresh chopped onion and a good sprinkling of crushed coriander seeds, or a combo of cooked pureed aubergine, garlic, olive oil and herbs. Or a mix of smoked haddock (two fillets, Asda, £ 4.40) or a smokie (smoked herring) flaked with a little mayo and topped with chopped chives and coarse black pepper.

Then what to dip into them? Crudites of raw veg look pretty but don’t make too much — you’ll end up turning them into soup tomorrow. Even the most health-conscious guest loves a carb, and bready or biscuity bits go faster than crudites.

Supermarkets are packed with ready-made tortilla chips (48p), cheese biscuit bites (£1.59), big twirly whirly cheese sticks (70p — these are better than I make, and I buy them from Aldi). Or you can make or buy a big flat focaccia (£1.95, ocado.com), cut it into fingers and toast them in a hot oven until crisp round the edges.

ANCHOVY TOAST WITH PEAR PICKLE

THIS is 2022’s salmon blini and, thankfully, it’s far less expensive. We used to have this in coffee bars and pubs when I was young in South Africa, but now it’s popping up on the menu at smart restaurants.

It’s as simple as Marmite on toast and you could substitute Marmite, spread thinly, instead of the anchovy paste/sauce. Both owe their popularity to the salty umami flavour, and both would be enhanced by something sweetish and tart, as here with the pear pickle.

Any creamy cheese goes well with anchovy or Marmite so you could spread your toast with first butter, then anchovy or Marmite, then a layer of cream cheese and top them with a row of grape slices or thin line of some sweet jammy glaze (hoisin sauce, redcurrant jelly, balsamic glaze or honey).

This is the simplest and most irresistible snack. Because it is so delicious, I’d reckon one bread slice per person. If you stack them as we have in the picture, they will stay crisp. INGREDIENTS l 4 large slices of white sandwich bread l Butter for spreading l About 2 tbsp anchovy paste (tube £1.40, Waitrose)

FOR THE PICKLE l 2 large ripe pears, peeled and diced l 1 tbsp sugar l 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar l 4 tbsp water l ½ tsp ground ginger l Squeeze of lemon juice SIMMER the pickle ingredients together in a small pan with the lid on until tender (15–30 minutes, depending on the ripeness of the pears). Allow to cool.

Toast the bread to a good dark brown. Spread it generously with butter, then sparingly with anchovy paste. Cut each piece of toast into four fingers and divide between two plates. Serve with the pear pickle. TIP: Anchovy paste is not that easy to find, though large supermarkets sometimes stock it in tubes. You can still get a very strong version of it as Gentleman’s Relish in large supermarkets and you can buy anchovy paste online. Or you could blitz canned anchovies to a paste in a blender. n BliSS On Toast by Prue leith (£14.99, Bloomsbury).