When it comes to entertaining over the festive period, planning is crucial. Finding treats that will not take long to prepare, but will look stunning. This is a vegetarian recipe that I created form my mum a few years back. Luckily, I made aplenty, since everyone descended on the platter of these flavoursome canapés.

This recipe will make 30 canapés

You need:
1 pack of filo pastry
500g brown button mushrooms
100g dried cranberries, chopped
1 large red onion, finely chopped
50g pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped
150g vegetarian blue cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for cooking
1 egg for brushing

Preheat the oven to 200C
Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a frying pan
Add the onion, thyme and a large pinch of salt and fry until starting to turn golden
Add the nuts, cranberries and cheese, combine and take of the heat and leave to cool
Take out the stalks from the mushrooms, place them on a  baking tray with the topside of the cap facing up and bake for 15 minutes and then leave to cool on a kitchen roll to dry them (this will give the finished product a crisp finish)
Lay out the filo sheets and cut up into 10×10 cm squares
Lay 3 squares on top of each other
Place a mushroom cap, top side down in the middle of the square and top with a teaspoon of the cheesy mixture
Bring the filo pastry around the mushroom and squeeze together using a little water to stick the pastry together (just dampen your fingers in a cup of water so you don’t dissolve the pastry)
Pop onto a baking tray and keep going until all the mushrooms are used up
Crack the egg in a bowl, whisk and brush the tops and sides of the parcels
Bake on 200C for 15 minutes until golden brown
Enjoy hot!