Quick & Easy Cheese Straws

Tis the season to be jolly!  Fa la la la.  Tis also the season to over-indulge on stale mince pies and get drunk on cheap wine in front of your colleagues:  yes indeed, tis the season of the Work Christmas Party!

We were all asked to pitch in for the Christmas party at the tin mine this year, so having sent B on a mission to source Santa hats and adding tacky decorations to the supermarket shopping list, I had just one task left to complete:  party food.

I always find party food a bit tricky.  You just know that fourteen people are already bringing mince pies, so they're off limits.   You could bring carrot sticks and hummous, but let's face it, nobody eats healthy things at parties, and you run the risk of your contribution sitting sadly untouched on the food table at the end of the night.  You could just buy some multi-packs of crisps and call it a day, but some ridiculous alpha-female urge in you wants to rock up with something homemade. 

But this year, I think I have it sussed:  homemade cheese straws.  While these look like you've laboured over them lovingly for hours, they're actually the biggest cheat going, and take all of 30 minutes to throw together and bake.

Ingredients:

2 handfuls grated Parmesan
2 handfuls grated mature Cheddar
1 tsp English mustard powder
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed and unrolled

In a bowl, combine your cheeses and the mustard powder and stir well.

Unroll the pastry sheet onto a lightly floured surface.  Cover half the sheet thickly with grated cheese, then fold the other half of the pastry sheet over the top.  Roll out until about 3mm thick.

Slice the pastry sheet in half, then slice each half into eight or so 1cm-wide slices. 

Butter a baking tray, then, using a fish slice, carefully transfer the straws onto the tray.  (A word to the wise:  if you don't use a fish slice, the cheese will all fall out in transit, and that's annoying.)  Scatter the slices with any leftover cheese, then bake at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes until the pastry is puffed-up and golden.

Hey presto!  Super quick, super easy, and super impressive.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to dig out my festive jumper and 'ironic' Santa-shaped earrings.