(photo: at the heart of making great small plates for an Italian themed dinner party is good bread)
Piattini: 12 Small Plate Italian Menu Ideas
Preparing multi course meals can be a fulfilling endeavor, especially when you’re cooking for family and friends who appreciate food. However, spending hours in the kitchen to prepare L’antipasto, Il primo, Il secondo, Il contorno, and Il dolce, even for a dyed-in-the-wool home cook, can be a demoralizing prospect.
So, what’s an Italian food obsessed person to do when a formal dinner isn’t in the cards? I say create multiple small plates, or piattini, for your dinner party and enjoy the extra time with your beloved guests. In turn, here are 12 piattini (small Italian appetizer) ideas tested on Scordo family members and friends!
1. Prosciutto, soft goat cheese, and spicy olives.
2. Meatballs with provola (with recipe)
3. Sliced tomatoes with wild arugula
4. Olives (all shapes and sizes)
5. Zucchini flower fritters (with recipe)
6. Sliced ham, mortadella, spicy salami, and prosciutto, and cracked olives
7. Rosemary Focaccia (with recipe)
8. Frittata (including six recipes)
9. Whole milk mozzarella with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
10. Bruschetta with tomatoes (including recipe)
11. More salumi, including speck, salame Calabrese, and cured pork loin)!
12. Arancini or Rice Balls (including recipe)
Zucchini & Summer Squash Risotto with Roasted Pork Chops (Risotto alla Zucchine / Cucuzza con Braciola di Maiale
(photo: final dish: Zucchini & Summer Squash Risotto with Roasted Pork Chops)Whenever I meet folks and I tell them I’m interested in food and cooking the inevitable question follows: “so, what do you cook?” Before I answer I often pause …
My gosh this food looks great. thanks for posting
Vincent thank you for keeping the Italian culture alive with sites such as yours. I grew up traditional Italian (calabrese)…I was actually born there. Grew up in Toronto. Following your site brings me back to when we made sausage, Christmas desserts and pasta with my mom. I lost my mom 5 years ago and really miss doing these things with her. I still try to keep the traditions alive because my mom passed down so many wonderful recipes to me and more importantly her love for food and feeding the people we love. Thank you once again for this beautiful site. God Bless you and your wonderful family.
Those are nice words – many thanks! Keep the traditions going even in light of how hard it may seem.