Last month, we went to a quiz night at Jac’s mum’s lawn bowls club. While Jac was at hockey in the afternoon, I put together this platter of nibbles to share: mini pork meatballs, aioli, vegetables and sliced gherkin pickles all sitting on mixed greens. I served the carrot sticks and tomatoes as they were, but I blanched the beans so they’d be tender and firm but no longer raw-tasting.

I used Neil Perry aioli (bought from Woolworths supermarket). I thought it looked a little plain in the ramekin, so I chopped up some fresh spring onion for garnish.

I brought along toothpicks for spearing the meatballs, but it soon became clear everyone was happy to just dig in with fingers. :) We bought the meatballs in a pack from Woolworths supermarket. They came with a sachet of sweet and sour sauce, but it looked a little runny – plus, I wanted to use a sauce that would double up as a dip for the vegetables – the thick, creamy aioli seemed like a good choice. You can get pork, beef or lamb meatballs in a pack, and they are so easy to cook – I fried these in a pan over low heat. They smelled so good that Pixel came into the kitchen and mewed for some!