Remember food doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious and impressive. Inspired by travels around the Mediterranean, when I entertain I keep things super simple with platters of food down the centre of a long table. To the colourful array of vegetarian antipasto below, I add cooked prawns with lots of lemon wedges; gravlax or smoked salmon with caperberries, dill and thinly sliced red onion; salumi such as pancetta, ‘nduja, salami and salsiccia; a large tin of good anchovy fillets in olive oil; plus a bowl of Losada olives and lots of crusty bread. Grilled zucchini with stracciatella and scarole di Natale (see video below) are great vegetarian antipasti too. The capsicum, eggplant and mushrooms for this vegetarian antipasto platter are all best cooked the night before and the asparagus can be as well. In the morning, everything, including the Insalata Caprese, can be assembled on the platter and covered in the fridge until just before guests arrive. With my vegetarian antipasto platter and accompaniments, I always serve Sbagliato, Aperol Spritz or one of my other favourite Prosecco cocktails!
Serves 4 or more
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Antipasto means ‘before the meal’ in Italian and refers to an appetiser served before the first course. If that appetiser consists of more than one dish it becomes plural, therefore antipasti.
Italians serve all sorts of vegetables as antipasto, including asparagus, zucchini (courgettes), eggplants (aubergines), mushrooms and peppers (capsicum). They may be raw, lightly steamed, pan-fried, baked, deep-fried or pickled. Start with these simple vegetables dishes as inspiration for your next antipasto platter.
Antipasto platters can contain a wide range of vegetables (see above) as well as salumi (cold cuts such as prosciutto, pancetta and salami). In some regions, such as Emilia-Romagna, a few chunks of cheese (especially Parmigiano-Reggiano) is also added. Dips and spreads aren’t typical antipasti, nor will you usually see fruit on an antipasto platter. Bread, grissini (bread sticks) and gnocchi fritti are the typical accompaniments.
While the French word charcuterie is sometimes translated as ‘cold cuts’, it refers to cold prepared meat products such as ham, terrines and pâté. So the terms vegetarian charcuterie board (or vegan charcuterie board) are non-sensical as vegetarians and vegans don’t eat charcuterie. The good news is that there’s a wonderful array of vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes that make great snacks and are perfect for a vegan grazing platter or vegetarian antipasto platter.
