Antipasto – the “everything but the kitchen sink!” of Italian cuisine!
I’ve always been told never to ask for seconds at an Italian household. Perhaps because of my upbringing, I considered it to be a matter of manners; however, that was until I saw what a traditional Italian dinner looked like! After seeing genuine Italian meal servings (and it’s 10 courses!!!), I understood that I’d never leave an Italian dinner hungry or unsatisfied. One such course which appears more often than not in the round of appetizers, known as antipasto.
Antipasto (plural: antipasti) roughly translates to “before the meal” (rather than “not pasta”) which makes a lot of sense given that most antipasti specifically serve as a sort of appetizer for before your big meal of pasta and meat. Instead, antipasto features vegetables, meats, and cheeses that bring their own unique combination of flavors to complete a classic Italian meal. With perfect balance – from oily olives to acidic tomatoes, from creamy mozzarella to bright basil – there’s nothing that could truly top a classic antipasto…
Except, maybe, pasta!
That’s right! Our antipasto flips the script and puts pasta back into a classic Italian favorite! Spear together our favorite assortment of Italian flavors like salami, olives, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and tortellini to form an antipasto that fulfills the fundamental flavors of Italy!
10 Courses – A Traditional Italian Meal
The 10 courses of a traditional Italian meal intend to leave you stuffed and absolutely satisfied by touching base with every desired combination of flavors to achieve near-perfect balance through the duration of a social gathering. Starting with aperitivo, what we now commonly call “appetizers”, where your guests would stand and drink wine or spritzers while noshing on little snacks like nuts and cheese, a full Italian meal intends to entertain and to nourish. Following this light bites comes our favorite step, antipasto, a heavier appetizer usually consisting of seasoned olive oils, meats, vegetables, and breads – our version of antipasto seeks to give you everything you could want in this stage: meat, cheese, tomatoes and olives, and a stuffed pasta!
Primo is your first bigger course, typically a hot meal of pasta or risotto. Once your appetite is piqued, secondo is the “seconds”; though, you aren’t asking for more of the last course, you’re getting a plateful of meat usually served along with contorno (a side dish). Following your main entrée is insalata, a leafy salad perfect to lend balance to protein and pasta. Formaggi e frutta, or “cheese and fruit”, helps bring the meal back to simpler and lighter flavors and pairings, then dessert-y dolce is like the resolution to a climactic movie!
If that’s not enough, you follow your many plates with something to help you digest it! Caffè (coffee) is always served after a big Italian meal (especially unsweetened and milk-less espressos) which supposedly can help conducive digestion when consumed hot! After starting the meal with alcohol, you finish off the meal with digestivi, or digestif liquors like limoncello and amaro.
FAQs & Tips
How to Make Ahead and Store
Because our antipasto skewers are intended to be served at room temp, it can be productive to take the time to assemble your skewers and refrigerate them before you want to plate them! Keep your ingredients together on their skewers in a sealed container for a fridge-life of about 4 days; however, you can keep all of the ingredients apart and skewer on the day of serving!
Is It Possible To Make Vegan Antipasto Skewers?
Olives, tomatoes, basil, and vegan pasta make a great antipasto skewer whether you’re serving all 10 courses of a traditional Italian meal or having them as a mid-afternoon snack!
Serving Suggestions
If you’re serving a 10-course meal inspired by the Italian traditional style, you could start with an aperitivo of Slow-Cooked Sweet and Spicy Nuts, follow up with our antipasto skewers, and plate a primo of Chicken Pasta Salad. For secondo, you can’t go wrong with Oven-Cooked Steak with a contorno of Boursin-Stuffed Mushrooms. Insalata and fromaggi e frutta can both be handled by our Flavorful Grape Salad and you can serve up a dessert of Tiramisu Trifle. Wash it all down with a delicious caffè (with a splash of amaretto if you’re looking to cross the digestivo off your list!).
Antipasto Skewers Recipe
Ingredients
- 20 wooden skewers
- 1 cup cheese tortellini cooked and cooled
- 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
- 40 pitted olives
- 40 cherry tomatoes
- 20 slices Genoa salami halved
- 20 small mozzarella balls
- 40 fresh basil leaves
- 20 marinated artichoke heart quarters
Instructions
- Cook tortellini according to package instructions, then rinse under cold water and let cool.
- In a mixing bowl, toss the cooled tortellini with Italian salad dressing until evenly coated. Marinate for 15 minutes.
- To assemble the skewers, start by threading an olive onto the skewer, followed by a tomato, a basil leaf, a tortellini, another basil leaf, a folded salami slice, a mozzarella ball, another tortellini, a basil leaf, a folded salami slice, an artichoke heart quarter, another tomato, and finish with an olive.
- Repeat the process with the remaining skewers.
- Arrange the skewers on a platter and serve at room temperature.
Leave a Comment