Cocktail Sandwiches

There's something so satisfying about a platter of fresh bite sized sandwiches. This cocktail sandwich recipe is small in size, but big in flavour - perfect for entertaining. It can easily be prepared ahead of time without compromising freshness.

Whether you're hosting a party or just want a tasty treat, these cocktail sandwiches are sure to impress.

Ingredient Suggestions:

• White toast bread
• Wheatmeal toast bread
• Mayonnaise or similar alternative
• Mustard or Dijonnaise
• Leafy salad greens, preferably a mixture of colours
• Meat selection - Some ideas are ham, salami, beef pastrami, chicken, salmon, sliced roast meat
• Salad ingredients - Some ideas are cucumber, tomato, avocado, gherkins (drained)
• Boiled eggs
• Cheese slices, preferably a hard cheese
• Alfalfa sprouts or snow pea shoots
• Chutney, relish, hummus, dip, pesto

Preparation Suggestions:

• Put the mayonnaise and mustard/Dijonnaise into piping bags ready to use.
• Thinly slice the cucumber. Put in little stacks on a separate prep tray ready to go.
• Carefully core the tomatoes, cut in half and then thinly slice. Add to the prep tray.
• Mash the eggs, and add a little mayonnaise and seasoning. Put into a piping bag ready to use.

Assembly Suggestions:

For 6 sandwich 'runs', each with 3 layers of bread, I suggest the following:

• Lay out a row of bread with the sides of bread touching (3 slices of wheatmeal bread, then 3 slices of white bread)
• Lay out another row underneath in the opposite colours.
• Lay out a final row underneath the same as the top row.
• Zigzag on a layer of mayonnaise (the 'glue' layer) onto the top and bottom rows of bread.
• Add a layer of lettuce leaves to the bottom row of bread. Try to completely cover the slice of bread.
• Add a zigzag of Dijonnaise (alternate between the mayo and Dijonnaise for your 'glue' layer).
• Add about 6 slices of cucumber to each slice of bread.
• Add another layer of glue.
• Add the tomatoes.
• Add another layer of glue.
• Put the middle slice of bread on top of the first layer, carefully lining up the edges.
• Add the chutney. If you have 2 options alternate between them.
• Add the meat selection. Alternate between these.
• Add another layer of glue.
• Alternate between some of your other fillings, cheese, gherkins, alfalfa sprouts.
• Add the top layer of bread, mayonnaise side down. Make sure all the edges are neatly lined up.
• Stack 2 sandwiches on top of each other onto a clean tray so that you have 3 piles of 2 neatly lined up. Don't add any overlapping sandwiches as the lower layers will get unevenly squashed.
• Wrap completely with a compostable plastic wrap, adding a bit of pressure to compress the sandwiches. It's best to do a layer right around the tray and then another layer the other way.
• Refrigerate over night to compress.
• Cut the sandwiches into triangles or cocktail squares or fingers. If you are cutting triangles remember a piece of bread isn't square, so keep the opposite triangles together as they will be the same. On a small scale this isn't visible, but on a full tray of sandwiches it will look much tidier.