Snacks that survive a fifteen minute break

Half time is fifteen minutes long, and the food has to fit the format. The hot snack you put down at the start of the break has to be eaten by the time the second half starts. This rules out anything that needs a knife and fork, anything that arrives in a deep dish, and anything that requires standing up to serve.

The flatbread sliced into squares is half time's perfect dish. It cooks in eight minutes during the closing minutes of the first half, comes out as the whistle blows, sits on a board on the coffee table, and is finished before play restarts. The ratio of effort to satisfaction is unbeatable.

The toastie cut into quarters is the same brief in a different format. Press a sandwich during the last five minutes of the first half. By the time the players walk off, you have a board of crisp golden quarters to put down between the sofa and the screen. People eat one, then the second, then the third.

The quesadilla is the third option in this category. Especially good when the half time guest list has grown and you need more food than you planned. Two tortillas, a generous handful of cheese, whatever filling is in the fridge. Three minutes per side. Sliced and served while the half time analysis is still on the screen.

Four dishes that hit half time exactly right, with a sliced and shareable presentation.