ideas for starters please

[smartie]

I'm cooking for six on Friday but will be very busy in the evening, the usual cubs, dance etc, so need to have everything preprepared. Have decided on lasagne, salad and stuffed tomatoes with fresh crusty bread and a lemon tart to follow, or maybe chocolate roulade, not sure yet! But I've gone blank on ideas for starters! It must be vegetarian or fish...

The crusty bread wont be served with the lemon tart!

oh I have the best ever - really simple but everyone loves it its in the old delia berown book - stuffed mushrooms with garlic butter - you can do it all ahead and wack it int he oven

its not on delia on line so let me know if you want it

One thing we often do is antipasti. Just buy a few packs of Cherry toms, salami, smoked mackerel, smoked salmon, mozzarella, olives, marinated mushrooms (unless you have time to do them the night before), just a nice assortment that you like. Add a few salad veg cut into small pieces, baby sweetcorn etc. Arrange attractively on a platter and serve with bread.

Buy a pack of frozen puff pastry, cut in half, roll out into a sqaure and cut into squares about 4.5 inches x 4.5 and about .5 inches deep. turn in a 3/4 inch 'hem'all round. In a heavy frying pan, place finely chopped garlic, some red onion and yellow pepper. Fry with a bit of fresh basil (torn up) and some black pepper in olive oil and butter until onion starting to caremelise. Bake cases in hot oven for 10 mins or so until they rise and brown. Remove from oven and bash in middles of cases to make wells. Fill wells with fried veg mix and a couple of halved cherry toms. Pop in hot oven for another 5 mins and serve. Ypu can prepare cases in advance (and veg) and just combine and cook. I did this as a starter to lasagne and it was very well received. Good luck!!

I do a variation on a Jamie Oliver salad starter.

Handful of leaves spinkled on plate
Some figs or peaches torn up and sprinkled on top
Some torn up chunks of mozzarella cheese thrown on

Then you can add torn strips of smoked salmon (or parma ham for meat eaters) or leave it as it is for veggies.

Make a lemon juive and olive oil dressing to drizzle on at last minute, with some black pepper.

Can be made in advance and put in fridge. Simple and lovely.

some lovely ideas thankyou, I particularly like the sound of yours helsbels and will use in the future, but these people have the most boring palettes you could imagine, (they're the in-laws), they struggle with my refusal to cook them meat, mil and sil are seriously over weight and are in denial of the fact!
delias stuffed mushrooms sound perfect, would you please send me the recipie codswallop?

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How about avocados, cut in half, scoup the flesh out and mix with mountains of garlic, stuff mixture back into the empty avocado skin, serve with bread or salad.

How about just doing some dips. Maybe guacamole, humus (sp), salsa, taramosolata. Serve with veg sticks and or kettle/taco chips.

I sometimes make the dips myself if I have time - otherwise I just buy them in.

charcuterie (eg prosciutto, chorizo, bresaola etc, figs, onion marmalade or interesting pickle, olives, antipasto such as marinaded artichokes or peppers. All piled on a big platter and served with lovely fresh bread and butter. Yum

Smoked mackerel pate - it was my Grandads favorite. Just get a couple of those vacuum packedd mackerel fillets from the supermarket, take the skin off, shred the flesh, mix with a tub of creme fraiche (low fat is fine) and lots of lemon juice. put into individual or one big ramekin, fridge for a few hours and serve with melba toast

Mini feta salad? Nice leaves, croutons, olives, feta (of course!) and whatever you have around like quickly seared courgettes on one of those ridgy pan things plus lovely olive oil. Have to confess that I don't do the cooking here but that is one of my faves made by my hubby

Grilled houlami cheese with a selection of salamis, olives etc is always a winner. Grill it on tin foil though as it gets a bit messy when it first heats up.