Boy's Buzz! night with mini toad-in-the-holes with red onion marmalade, Parma ham and mascapone pizza, chilli and garlic bread, sweet potato wedges...

Had some of the boys round from work last night for a catch up over a few beers and Buzz! Naturally I laid on some snackage:

• Mini toad-in-the-holes with red onion marmalade
• Parma ham and mascapone pizza
• Chilli and garlic bread
• Sweet potato wedges
• Qesadillas - garlic mushroom, red onion, pepper and paprika

Amazingly these were all hoovered up leaving the (pre-prepared) chips and dips left-over. I reckon that makes it me 1 - snack makers 0!

The recipes:

Mini toad-in-the-holes with red onion marmalade

In each of the mini Yorkshire puddings I put a teaspoon of my red onion marmalade then topped each off with half an apple and pork sausage. Allow to cool slightly before serving as the sugar in the marmalade is far too hot to eat straight from the oven.

Parma ham and mascapone pizza
I came up with this recipe after tasting this pizza on a trip to Italy. The combination of sweet mascapone and salty, savoury ham works fantastically.

Ingredients:
Pizza base (taken from The Big Book of Bread by Anne Sheasby):
225g strong white flour
1/2tsp salt
1tsp dried yeast
2tbsp olive oil
Warm water
Topping:
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, crushed to a paste
Parma ham (I use 1 whole packet per pizza)
1/2 tub of mascapone
Olive oil

Method:
1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl then stir in the yeast
2. Make a well in the centre and add the oil. then add sufficient water to make soft dough.
NOTE: If the dough is too dry add more liquid, if the dough become too wet add more flour
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth. Shape in to a round then put into an oiled bowl and leave to prove, until doubled in size, in a warm location
4. Make the sauce. Gently fry the onion until soft. Add the garlic.
5. Add the tomatoes and reduce gently until the sauce is very thick (reduced by about 3/4). Season at the end.
NOTE: The sauce can be blitzed in a food processor if you want a really smooth sauce.
6. Knock back the dough on a floured surface. Then roll out to about 12" diameter and transfer to a baking sheet.
7. Spread the sauce over the base.
8. Arrange teaspoonfuls of the cheese over the base. Then arrange the ham.
9. Bake at 220°C for 20-25 minutes, or until the base is cooked.

Chilli and garlic bread
To make this I used one of the "bake at home" loaves. Once the bread was cooked I sliced it almost through and slathered each section with a mixture of butter, garlic, chilli flakes and dried parsley. Wrap the loaf in foil and re-heat in the oven.

Sweet potato wedges
Par boil chunky slices of sweet potato for about 3 minutes. Place in a baking tray (skin side down) and drizzle with olive oil and season. Bake at 200°C for about 30 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally to stop them sticking.

Qesadillas - garlic mushroom, red onion, pepper and paprika
To make these I use shop-bought tortillas. Prepare the filling first; typically I fry off the filling (in this case vegetables). Then in a dry frying pan place a tortilla, cover with the filling, add a (generous) layer of grated cheese. Top with another tortilla. Fry until the tortillas are crispy and the cheese melted (about2/3 minutes per side)