Christmas is the perfect time to gather family and friends to enjoy around a table. It does not matter what is eaten but the company with which we share the menu. This is the reason why many people prefer not to spend hours and hours in the kitchen and enjoy the conversation. Of course, without losing the opportunity to offer rich and tasty dishes.
For this reason, more and more, there are those who opt for a cold Christmas menu. That is to say, those recipes that can be left prepared without having to heat it up at the last minute or with the last touches. A delicious and healthy snack based on canapés, vegetables, puff pastries… That will delight your guests and will prepare you (without the need to fill you up too much) for a main hot dish. In this article, we bring you simple and quick cold Christmas recipes for starters and starters, are you going to miss it?
Cold appetizer recipes to celebrate Christmas
As we said, making cold starters or first courses for a Christmas of 10 is not too difficult a task. You will only need to dedicate a little time before the celebration, and enjoy a delicious meal with your loved ones! Grab a pencil and paper, and pay close attention to the following preparations for Christmas appetizers.
- canapés tray
- Foie bonbons
- Brandade of cod
- salty puff pastries
1 Canapes tray
Ingredients
+Bread
+puff pastry tartlets
+Toasted bread
+Melon
+Serrano ham
+crab substitute
+Tuna
+Mayonnaise
+boiled egg
+Cream cheese
+Salmon
Step by Step
- Canapés nº1: cut the melon into square pieces (or into spheres if you dare with it) and place the ham on top, obtaining a very fresh ham and melon skewer.
- Canapés nº2: with the help of a food processor, we chop the crab substitute, the tuna and the egg. We mix it well and add mayonnaise or pink sauce to bind it. When we are done, we place the canapés on one of the types of bread that we have (or you can also mix them to make them different). We can decorate with spun egg, pineapple or caviar roe substitute.
- Canapés nº3: Spread the cream cheese on the sliced bread, place a strip of salmon on top and make a roll. For the final result to hold, we will help ourselves with two toothpicks, one on each side.
2 Foie bonbons
Ingredients
+foie
+Ham
+chopped almonds
Step by Step
- To make these chocolates we will use a cooler or a candy box if you have it. First of all, we cut the ham into strips and place them in the holes of the coolers stretched out, so that part of the ham remains outside the hole so that we can then close them well.
- The next step is to fill in the gaps by mixing the foie with almond bits. Press the filling a little against the ham so that it is compact. Finally, close the strips of ham over the foie and leave it well sealed to be able to remove the chocolates whenever you want. You will have your appetizer ready!
3 Brandade of cod
Ingredients
+Puff pastry or toasted bread tartlets
+400 grams of cod
+1 clove of garlic (or 2 if we really like the taste)
+80 ml of whole milk
+a small potato
Step by Step
- First of all we clean the cod well (or you can buy it clean), we cook it and we crumble it. Meanwhile we can cook the potato with its skin. When we have it, we cut it up and reserve it separately. On the other hand, we chop the garlic very finely and put it over low heat in a pan with oil. When it starts to brown a little, add the milk and keep turning. We turn off and reserve.
- Combine the shredded cod with the chopped potato, beat everything together at medium speed and, little by little, add the milk and garlic without losing the speed of beating. This will be the time to try and add the salt, to taste. Let cool and fill the canapés. We can decorate with chopped parsley or chives, although it is also a good idea to have a blowtorch in the kitchen and serve it burning on top.
4 Salty puff pastries
Ingredients
+puff pastry sheet
+Egg
+toasted sesame
+Ham
+Cheese
Step by Step
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, we cut the sheets of puff pastry the way we want (round, square…). We put ham and cheese (don’t cut yourself with the filling so it doesn’t taste just like puff pastry) and we put the lid on top. We beat the egg and paint the surface and then sprinkle the toasted sesame. It remains only to bake until golden brown. This is just an idea for the puff pastry but you can make the filling with the ingredients that you like the most.
Christmas recipes for delicious cold first courses
How about having a few cold first courses for Christmas? In this way you will not have to be in the kitchen until the last moment, you will only have to plate in the best way and enjoy its delicious flavors. Take note of all these recipes!
- Seafood Cocktail
- Endive or lettuce boats
- Filled tomatoes
5 Seafood Cocktail
Ingredients
+Green apple
+Pineapple
+Cherry tomatoes
+prawn tails
+prawns
+crab substitute
+Hake or cod
+Egg Yarn
+Pink sauce (or ketchup, mayonnaise and a tablespoon of brandy)
Step by Step
- You can calculate the quantities of each cocktail depending on whether you want them to be large bowls or small glasses. The idea is to pre-cook the prawns, prawns and hake or cod and let it cool. Afterwards, we will peel the shells and crumble the fish well to eliminate any risk of bones.
- The idea is to put the lettuce mix at the base and on top mix the pineapple, tomatoes and apple in pieces with the shredded hake or cod and the peeled prawns and prawns and season with salt and pepper. We will add the pink sauce on top (or in a separate jar in case there are guests who prefer not to have it) and decorate with a spun egg.
6 Endive or lettuce boats
Ingredients
+One or two endive or lettuce leaves per person
+Smoked salmon
+Chive
+Mustard
+Mayonnaise
+Cheese
Step by Step
- We choose the lettuce or endive leaves well (you know that as you get closer to the heart they are smaller) and wash them well. In the bowl where we will mix the filling, we will be able to take advantage of the finely chopped hearts as well. Next we will add the cheese (the one you like the most) in small squares and we will chop the salmon. We mix well.
- Now it remains to add the sauce. We will mix mayonnaise with a touch of mustard (1 part mustard to 3 parts mayonnaise) and add it to our filling. It is interesting that it is linked, not that it tastes a lot like the sauce and subtracts flavor from the rest. Finally we mix with the filling and fill the boats.
- The filling can be varied. Another option is crab substitute, hard-boiled egg, corn and mayonnaise, but we do not recommend it if you are going to make the canapés as a starter. Another option can be Roquefort with walnuts or salmon with avocado. We are sure that all the ideas you come up with will be great.
7 Filled tomatoes
Ingredients
+Tomatoes to fill
+For the filling 1: tuna, cubes of York ham and green olives
+For the filling 2: lettuce, chicken, cheese and yogurt sauce or mayonnaise.
+For the filling 3: red pepper, green pepper, zucchini, onion and couscous.
Step by Step
- We cut the top of the tomatoes and empty them carefully so that they do not break. Don’t throw away what’s inside! It will give your filling a good taste, whatever you choose. So put it in the bowl in which you are going to add the ingredients. For filling 1 and 2, grind the ingredients (you can do everything with the help of a food processor) and mix it with a vinaigrette, mayonnaise or yogurt sauce.
- For filling 3, we will poach the onion over low heat and then we will add the red and green peppers and the zucchini. Meanwhile, we prepare the couscous and mix at the end with the vegetables and the tomato seeds. Fill the tomatoes with the option we have chosen and place the lid on top. Ready!