Hot Girl Snacks: What to Serve on your Next Rosé & Gossip Night

No Night In is complete without snacks and these are some of my absolute favourites to keep your girls satiated while you discuss all the latest scandals. As the title insinuates, serve with Rosé and gossip.

Olives

It's no secret that hot girls love olives - I don't make the rules. My preference would always be the queen of olives - the Nocellara (M&S and Waitrose do the best ones), but you could go for pimento-stuffed olives, kalamata olives, garlic and herb marinaded olive, I love olive the options tbh (get it - olive, like all of !! wow I really did that).

Whipped Feta Dip

I had to place some emphasis on the dip that has taken the hot girl community by storm. To try whipped feta dip is to love whipped feta dip. It's really easy to make - I've included my own recipe here. It's super simple and I usually just eyeball it rather than sticking to exact measurements (in true hot girl style), but you could add any herbs or spices you like. My preference would simply be a drizzle of olive oil, some extra freshly ground black pepper and an olive (with more on the side obvi), but I've seen others use mint oil, sundried tomatoes, oregano etc... Serve it in a cute ceramic dish for the whipped feta wow factor.

Ingredients

1 x block of Feta cheese

1/2 cup of Greek yoghurt

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

squeeze of lemon juice

sea salt + freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

All The Dips

Hummus, salsa, guacamole, aioli, taramasalata etc... homemade or shop-bought, I won't judge (I'll kinda judge shop-bought guac but the rest are fine). Basically, hot girls love dips. Have a hummus-covered salt & vinegar crisp, gossip, a salsa-laden tortilla chip, "can I just be mean for a sec", crusty bread smothered with aioli, "but who am I to judge", some taramasalata on a cracker, "love her though", iykyk and I know you know.

Crispy Rice + Salmon Bites

My kryptonite, these live in my head rent-free. Crispy fried sushi rice topped with fresh spicy creamy salmon tartare garnished with some sesame seeds, spring onion or a slice of your favourite chilli - perfection. If they're on the menu I'm ordering them, but it's not actually too hard to make them yourself it just requires a bit of prep - I've put my recipe below but let me know if you want a full tutorial! OR look at my genius (if I do say so myself) hack below...

A particularly life-changing portion of crispy rice +

salmon bites from my 24th Birthday dinner at Los Mochis.

Ingredients

sushi rice

fresh salmon

siracha

mayonnaise

soy sauce

spring onion

fresh lime juice

sesame seeds and fresh chillis to garnish

Method

1. The night or a few hours before, cook sushi rice according to packet instructions and leave to cool (season with mirin or sushi vinegar if you have it on hand, but I don't find it essential).

2. Press the sushi rice into a rectangular container (like a sheet tray) lined with cling film and press down until even and compact, it should be about 1 or 2cm in height. Place into the freezer.

3. Once frozen, remove the rice and slice into small rectangles for frying.

4. Pan fry for a few minutes on each side, do this in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.

5. Once crispy and golden brown, remove and place on paper towels to cool a little and soak up excess oil.

6. For the salmon tartare topping, finely chop the salmon and spring onion. Mix in siracha, mayonnaise, soy sauce and freshly squeezed lime juice - I like to measure from the heart.

7. Spoon the salmon tartare onto the still slightly warm crispy rice and garnish with sesame seeds and a thin slice of freshly chopped chilli.

8. Serve with soy sauce on the side and prepare for your life to be changed forever.

I have a vendetta against "life hacks" that are actually very niche and subjective, but I guess I have a "crispy rice + salmon bites hack". Pick up a box of nigiri from your local Itsu or Wasabi and separate the salmon from the rice. Finely chop up the salmon and mix it with the other ingredients listed above while pan-frying the rice pieces. Top the rice with your salmon tartare and thank me later (I accept cash or gift cards to Nobu).

Herbed Ricotta Toasts

These couldn't be easier to put together but they're so yummy. I think you can guess the recipe but just in case: ricotta, whatever fresh herbs you like - basil, mint, chives, parsley, mint, a squeeze of lemon juice plus lots of salt and pepper. I also added a clove of minced garlic because... hot girls love garlic. Mix together and spread on thinly sliced, freshly toasted baguette.

Burrata to Share

The good news is, a little burrata sharing plate is super easy to throw together. Place it on a bed of whatever you want to pair it with - cherry tomatoes and basil, peaches and rocket, pears and truffle oil and scoop it up with some nice bread.

Arancini

Arancini has become one of my go-to appetisers/canapes because they're surprisingly easy to make but they always impress everyone - I made them for an NYE dinner I hosted for 14 people (yes I'm 100% big fat flexing) and they were a stand out from the 7 courses I served (yeah, I did it again). There are a myriad of fillings you could choose from but my favourite has to be mushroom and truffle with an offensive amount of parmesan.

The only picture of homemade arancini I can find in my camera roll which

features a devastating incident in which I ran out of parmesan.

Ingredients

leftover mushroom risotto (or whip up a small portion)

2 eggs

flour

breadcrumbs

truffle oil

vegetable oil

parmesan

Method

1. Scoop up a small handful of your cooled risotto and roll into a compact ball - repeat until you have the desired number or you've run out of risotto.

2. Whisk up your eggs and leave them in a bowl. Put out a bowl of flour and a bowl of breadcrumbs.

3. Coat each risotto ball in flour, followed by egg, followed by breadcrumbs.

4. Deep fry the balls in very hot vegetable oil until golden brown and crispy, do this in batches to avoid overcrowding.

5. Place the cooked arancini on paper towels to soak up excess oil and cool slightly.

6. Drizzle with truffle oil and garnish with as much grated parmesan as you like. I like to serve mine with either garlic or truffle mayo.

Gossiping Boards

née Grazing Boards

A selection of cheeses - perhaps a brie, a cheddar, a manchego, a little pile of salted nuts, assorted crackers, some chilli jam, dips (obvi), charcuterie, berries perfectly sliced fruit such as pears or apricots, breadsticks, sundried tomatoes, hot honey, olives (duh), whatever you choose to put on your board, it'll be the perfect centrepiece for the girls to graze on while you catch up on whose boyfriend did what, which ex-acquaintance is pregnant, whose boss is a nightmare and how much you embarrassed yourself on your last night out.

I had to include this exquisite example (which was actually a vegan version)

from a By Rotation event I attended last year.