18 Italian Appetizers, From Bruschetta to Fritto Miso
Channel a trip to Italy with peak tomatoes, rich mozzarella, and pillowy bread.
Flaky, cheesy focaccia. Fresh, creamy mozzarella. Crispy arancini. These Italian appetizers are a great way to start off your meal, whether you're looking for something simple and summery, like Roasted Eggplant Caponata, or a fall-ready starter like Crispy Frico Cups with Polenta and Brown Butter. Read on for even more Italian appetizer recipes.
Tomato Bruschetta
Matt Taylor-Gross
This timeless Italian antipasto comes together in just minutes, making it easy on the host. It’s a great way to show off tomatoes when they are ripe and in season, whether they came from your garden, the farmer’s market, or the grocery.
Fried Zucchini Blossoms with Prosciutto and Mozzarella
In this recipe, delicate zucchini blossoms are stuffed with melty mozzarella and salty prosciutto before being lightly battered and fried into a crispy melt-in-your-mouth treat.
Tomato, Basil, and Cucumber Panzanella with Grated Tomato Balsamic Vinaigrette
Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, pairs oven-roasted sourdough croutons with juicy ripe tomatoes, raw red onion, and crisp cucumbers. Grated tomato adds a gentle acidity and chunky texture to the vinaigrette, helping it cling to every bite.
Grilled Artichokes with Herby Lemon Aioli
Artichokes are at their best — and easiest to prepare — when cooked quickly over a hot fire, particularly when served with luscious lemon aioli made with the smoky juices and pulp of grilled lemons.
Focaccia col Formaggio
This snack, also known as focaccia di Recco, is a crisp, flaky, cheese-filled Italian bread, perfect for snacking on at any time of day.
Caprese Salad
Matt Taylor-Gross
Caprese salad comes from the island of Capri in Italy, and captures the feeling of enjoying a long, lazy summer lunch while you are on vacation. This is an incredibly simple salad that's dependent on using the best quality ingredients.
Fritto Misto with Calabrian Chile Aïoli
A festive mix of shrimp, calamari, anchovy-stuffed olives, and paper-thin lemon slices are dredged in a Pernod-spiked batter and fried to crispy, golden perfection. Jarred Calabrian chiles add a fruity heat to the creamy aïoli dipping sauce.
Erbazzone Reggiano (Emilian Spinach and Cheese Pie)
Flavorful and filling with a light, almost cracker-like crust, this rustic spinach pie relies on simple ingredients for an impressive finish. Because the spinach gently steams within the crust, it retains its fresh, verdant flavor even after cooking.
Sausage-Stuffed Fried Olives
Buttery, mild Castelvetrano olives add just enough salt and tang to these fried sausage snacks that pair beautifully with a crisp martini or chilled glass of wine. Use a high-quality Italian sausage for the best texture and flavor.
Buffalo Mozzarella with Neat and Messy Roasted Tomatoes
Rome-based cookbook author Rachel Roddy serves tomatoes roasted two ways here for a range of delicious tomato flavor as well as a beautiful presentation paired with rich buffalo mozzarella.
Fresh Mozzarella
Warm, tender, milky mozzarella is easier to make than you might think. Plus it takes just 20 minutes.
Crispy Frico Cups with Polenta and Brown Butter
Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson molds traditional Italian frico (cheese crisps) into cups, then fills the salty, crunchy bowls with creamy, warm polenta and nutty brown butter. The frico cups soften as the polenta sits in them, so serve right away, with a fork and knife.
Arancini with Peas and Mozzarella
Grace Parisi's Calabrian grandmother always used plain white rice to make her incredible arancini (rice balls), but Parisi prefers to cook with plump arborio to make the insides creamier.
Ricotta and Roasted Tomato Bruschetta with Pancetta
Peak-season tomatoes make all the difference in this simple bruschetta from author Susan Spungen. They're the perfect accompaniment to a bowl of soup or a large salad, or, to turn them into two-bite hors d'oeuvres, simply cut the bruschetta crosswise into strips.
Michael Symon's Arancini
Arancini, the crispy-on-the-outside and cheesy-on-the-inside fried rice balls, are the ultimate cocktail hour snack. Star chef Michael Symon makes his risotto the day ahead for easy prep and then breads the mozzarella-filled balls just moments before frying to get that perfect, crunchy crust.
Roasted Eggplant Caponata
If you have the time, make the caponata at least a day ahead; it's one of those dishes that improves as it rests. Eat it as they do in Sicily, spooned over bread or focaccia.
Herbed Chickpea Bruschetta
The key to these delicious bruschetta from chef Nancy Silverton is lots of olive oil. After she bakes the chickpeas with a variety of flavorings — including onions, pancetta, and carrots — she purees them with a good amount of oil, spreads the puree on toasts, and drizzles with a little more oil.
Antipasto Salad with Bocconcini and Green-Olive Tapenade
Shredded iceberg lettuce serves as the crunchy base for a salad made with bocconcini, Genoa salami, peperoncini, and green olives.
For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on Food & Wine.
