Polenta tartlets with Piccolo tomato, goat's cheese and chives

Canapés should be quick and easy to do. Given that they are served to provide little entertaining bites before a main event, the last thing you want to do is faff about. Yet here I am, about to instruct you to blanch and peel tomatoes. Possibly one of the fiddliest jobs you can do in the kitchen, up there with picking tiny bits of white meat from crabs' legs and whittling down artichokes to near insignificance, just to get at their hearts.

The good news is that for this recipe, you will be using Piccolo tomatoes. Small, round and juicy, they only really need to be steeped in boiled water for a minute. The neatest trick is to then just nick the skin with the tip of a knife, and gently squeeze. The Piccolo will leap out of its jacket.

There is also a touch of the Bloody Mary when it comes to making these tartlets, as celery salt, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco go into the mix. You could even add a nip of vodka to the mix, but make sure you stay focused while crumbling the goats' cheese and chopping the chives at the end. Get that out of the way and then the party can really get started.