NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY PLATTER

This spread, featuring fancy-but-simple puff pastry cheese twists, is lovely for an at-home celebration or to kick off a night on the town. "A little glam goes a long way with this elegant but easy black-and-white tray," Largeman-Roth promises. "Make the cheese twists a day ahead so all you'll have to do is arrange everything on a board and pop open a bottle of your favorite bubbly" Not a fan of sesame seeds? Just make the twists with Parmesan only

To make Black Sesame Parmesan Twists: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Unfold 1 sheet puģ pastry, thawed, on a lightly ĥoured surface. Using a rolling pin, lightly roll into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle.

Brush entire surface of pastry with 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil. Sprinkle half with 1/8 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp black sesame seeds and ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, and fold over. Gently press to seal. Roll pastry lightly again until rectangle is about 13 x ' inches.

Using a pizza cutter, slice into about 26 half-inch strips. Twist and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Makes about 26 twists.

Serve with blackberries, chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos), chocolate wafer cookies (such as Loacker), black-and-white cookies, chocolatedrizzled popcorn, fresh or dried Ĥgs, black olive and baby mozzarella mini skewers, vanilla meringues, crostini with plain goat cheese and Ĥg-cocoa jam (such as Dalmatia) and cooked black-and-white bow-tie pasta (such as Borgo de’ Medici).