Vegan Canapé Galettes, or healthy biscuits
Here is a brilliant recipe for a delicious sort of crackery thing you can use as a base for any kind of canapé topping you like, but which can also be used as a healthy snack for the kids. Flora is rather keen on them. The honey makes them a little sweet so they can pass as a treat - bonus! It's gluten and dairy and egg free, and very quick and easy to make, too. Win, win, win, win.
This is adapted from a recipe from the Waitrose Magazine, and it's perfect topped with a bit of smoked salmon, avocado. crab, goat's cheese, mushroom pâté ... all the canapé staples will work here. They aren't light though. In fact they are rather substantial, so you can't wolf down too many, and perhaps that's a good thing..? It might force one to eat a civilised amount of canapés, and save room for the main event.
Ingredients
100g shelled, unsalted pistachios
50g pumpkin seeds
50g sunflower seeds (or you can use 100g of one or the other)
100g cooked chestnuts
a small handful of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of light olive oil
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Spread the nuts and seeds out on a baking sheet and roast for about 5 minutes.
3. Along with the thyme leaves, blitz them to a coarse crumb in a food processor, and add the oil and honey, and blitz again for a minute. It will make a sticky dough which holds its shape when you press it.
4. Roll the dough out on a sheet of baking parchment - you can just press it out with your hands, really - and using a round metal cookie cutter cut out rounds, transfer them to a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, and bake for about 10-15 minutes until they are firm and golden.
5. Once out of the oven allow them to cool on the tray for a few minutes. Always put the toppings on at the last possible minute to avoid them going soggy. This quantity of dough makes about 20-25 if you make them 5cm. If smaller, cook them a for bit less time and check until they are firm.
