I love a touch of fizz for Christmas (or any other time of the year to be fair) and think it really adds a touch of sparkle to a festive party. Can you imagine a Chrimbo get together without bubbles? No, me either and some of the best, I always feel, are Prosecco and Cava. A less expensive alternative to Champagne but seriously, in lots of cases no less quality.

I think Cava is closest in taste to Champers but I actually prefer a sweeter Prosecco and some of the supermarkets have some truly delicious versions so why look anywhere else? I actualy tried most of the supermarket offerings when visiting their Christmas press shows and Morrisons, as ever, were very impressive. Their Cava is less dry than most which makes it perfect for me and as for their Prosecco, well… Massively indulgent tasting but absolutely not bank breaking at all! Perfecto!

Morrisons say their Wm Morrisons Prosecco (which is on a points offer at the moment) is perfect with a prawn cocktail (which is exactly what we are having on Christmas day so I shall take their advice) but also simply with a Friday night Chinese take-away and I tend to agree. It doesn’t have to be a special moment to enjoy these gorgeous bubbles but… Christmas day is certainly a time to pop that cork!

And something else which goes beautifully with bubbles is cheese. Again Morrisons do rather well in this department and just like their fishmonger and butchers they have an excellent cheese deli. Two of their best sellers for Christmas are goat’s cheese and brie. Two of my personal faves and delicious just to nibble on with your bubble sipping but… Also perfect for little canape ingredients.

I have used the goat’s cheese to make some special pizza cups which are perfect for Christmas Eve nibbles as you wrap those straggler gifts and get totally in the festive mood (with a glass of bubbly too of course)!

Ingredients:

Pizza dough (I make mine according to my bread machine recipe and because the machine does all the hard work I don’t have to), Any tomato sauce (home-made or shop bought, vegetable oil and the goat’s cheese (I used Morrisons soft goat’s cheese). You can also add other veggies or pepperoni if you like.

Method:

Use kitchen paper to wipe oil around the bottom of a 12 bun fairy cake tin and push a ball of the dough (about as much as you would add into each well when making fairy cakes) into each section. Using your thumb push down and make a well in each one. Pop a teaspoon of the tomato sauce in each well and top with a little knob of the cheese. I’ve added a slice of pepperoni to some of mine just to mix it up a bit. Bake on a medium heat for around 20 minutes and voila! They’re yummy served warm but keep in the fridge and can easily be enjoyed cold too!

And if you really haven’t time to make any sort of canape then the delicate brie on a buttered cracker is just as delicious! I think that you are supposed to bring it up to room temperature, let it breathe and serve it that way but it definitely intensifies the flavour servicing it this way. If you prefer a milder taste then serve it cold from the fridge.

I was sent the cheese and fizz in this post.

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