Category Archives: Appetizer

Bacon and tomato dip

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Summer is finally here and for me it means barbecues with friends and family. With my husband being American we like to alternate and organize  either American or Italian barbecues though sometimes we mix up our traditional meals.

In Italy we usually like to grill sausages, salamelle (thicker but shorter than a sausage) pancetta, capocollo (pork neck chops), pork ribs, hot dogs or kebabs (alternating pieces of sausage, chicken, pancetta and bell peppers). The meat is often accompanied with grilled vegetables and grilled polenta, big salads and while the meat is cooking bruschetta is often chosen as an appetizer. We absolutely don’t put any sauce over the meat but we sometimes marinate it with olive oil and fresh herbs before grilling.
I personally like to grill some sausages, my favorite are with fennel seeds, but I also like chicken flavored with thyme, rosemary and sage. Continue reading →

Turkey roll-ups with paprika and garlic sauce

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Years ago I was following the South beach diet  so to have a wide selection of alternative meals, I bought most of the books written by dr. Agatston. I really liked the recipes and I still make a lot of them. I found the recipes very simple and appetizing, and certainly not fat if you follow a certain eating regime.

I’ve always liked the snack ideas most and turkey roll-ups became my favorites. Hard to say why maybe because they’re so different from typical Italian snacks. The recipe I liked has cilantro mayonnaise and seeing that I don’t find cilantro very often in my store I changed the recipe and substituted the cilantro with paprika and garlic powder. Continue reading →

Crostini with fava bean spread

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Fava beans also known as broad beans, Windsor beans or English beans just to name a few are one of the first spring legumes to appear on our tables. They have been a beloved food for centuries in Northern Africa, Asia and Europe. During the Roman empire favas were eaten by the plebeians and consumed in different ways. They were dried then grounded into flour, and used to make puls a grain mush, the ancestor of polenta prepared mainly with farro flour. They were also eaten raw which is still common or cooked together with lard.

In the last few years there has been a growth of new recipes and a re-elaboration of classic ones using this legume.  The recipe I prepared is a re-elaboration of one of the classics, “Fave e pecorino” (Pecorino cheese with fresh fava beans), typical from the Lazio region. Fava beans are eaten raw, when they’re still small and soft, accompanied by slices of Pecorino cheese. Continue reading →

Puntarelle, eggs, oranges and avocado salad

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I made this salad for the first time last Easter and is served as an appetizer. It was more successful than I expected. Some of my guests didn’t even know what puntarelle chicory was and they were a little bit intimidated at first. A few years ago I didn’t know much about puntarelle either only that it was a famous vegetable widely used in the Roman cuisine. It was difficult to find it here in the North, but luckily now they are available in our stores starting in December through April.

Puntarelle is a variety of chicory, with serrated leaves, attached to the base of the plant that surrounds the shoots growing inside the plant during the winter. Its flavor is similar to chicory and endive with bitter and peppery-like taste. The shoots are crunchy and can be eaten raw or cooked. When cooked have a mellower flavor and can be used to make wonderful pasta dishes. There are also other ways to eat them cooked, for example, my mom boils them and simply eats them with hard boiled eggs seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper. When eaten raw they have a stronger and bitter taste and thus they’re often accompanied with anchovies in salads that mitigate the bitterness and compliment the flavor. Continue reading →

Crescent rolls with prosciutto crudo

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I had rolls for the first time at my mother in law’s many years ago in Minnesota. They had such a soft consistency and a buttery taste that I couldn’t stop eating them. She gave me her recipe and while back in Italy I tried to make them. They didn’t come out like they were supposed to. They were crunchy, dough didn’t rise properly, but my family loved them anyway.
I was so disappointed, but I didn’t give up and made them many more times until they turned out as I wanted. My mother in law’s are still better even if my husband kindly tells me it’s not true.

These are the rolls I prepare for our Thanksgiving dinner every year and they always disappear in minutes. I made them this year too but I only used a small amount of the dough and I refrigerated the rest. This particular preparation can be refrigerated, but I had never done it until now. I made the rest of the rolls few days later and served them warm, as an appetizer, with prosciutto crudo and Speck. They were a hit.
Our pastry shops often have small croissants cut in two and filled with prosciutto crudo, Speck or ham with a thin slice of cheese and a leave of salad. My rolls are obviously different from croissants, they are a pan brioche kind of dough but the flavors are well balanced. If you prefer you can spread them with a little bit of butter and then add the prosciutto. I personally like them without, but that also depends on the prosciutto some are in fact drier than others. Never choose the beginning of the leg, it’s drier and saltier than its middle part. The end is sweeter but it is usually cut thicker. Check this well informed site about prosciutto crudo for more info. You can read about Speck on the Speck Consortium. Continue reading →

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