Italian salads and appetizers.  Italian cuisine: pasta, pizza, cheeses, snacks

In this book, we offer you recipes for Italian dishes that are perfect for a chic holiday. You will like it and variety of snacks, and salads - both traditional and exotic, and hot dishes that will satisfy the most refined taste A holiday in Italian is an extravaganza of aromas, sophistication and harmony!

A series: Taste tested

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by the LitRes company.

Melon with a transparent slice of prosciutto or bruschetta with tomatoes - this, of course, is the most classic Italian appetizers. But why stop at just her? A meal in the Italian spirit is also good to start with carpaccio - meat or poultry with an interesting dressing. Can be limited light salad(to leave room for a hearty main course) by preparing it, for example, with fennel and radicchio or tomatoes and artichokes with sheep cheese; and you can pick up a more detailed snack - say, smoked turkey or tuna tartare. There is also such an option: to make a set of traditional “antipasti” (Italian antipasti - hot or cold appetizer), which usually includes cheeses, a variety of cold cuts, marinated with herbs vegetables, olives, seafood… Just don’t forget to put on the table an excellent Italian olive oil And balsamic vinegar.

Salad of fresh vegetables, Parma ham and asparagus

Cut vegetables into cubes, add olives, olives and capers. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Thinly slice the Parma ham. Mix crab meat with mayonnaise until smooth. Blanch the asparagus for 2 minutes.

Put crab meat and asparagus on the ham, wrap in small rolls.

Vegetable salad put on a plate, pour a small amount of balsamic cream sauce, put the rolls on top.

Asparagus has a pleasant, memorable taste and delicate fragrance and is also one of the most healthy vegetables, since it contains a whole complex of vitamins (C, E, H, PP, B1, B2, B5, B6, B9, provitamin A), is rich in fiber and substances necessary for our body, such as potassium and zinc. These facts are of particular importance, since asparagus can be harvested in open field already in April, that is, in poor fresh vegetables season.

Salad with Parma ham, figs and arugula

cut ham thin slices, figs - slices, sun-dried tomatoes- plates.

Prepare the dressing: Whisk together the olive oil, wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

Put arugula on a plate, slices of ham on it, and on top - slices of figs and slices of tomatoes. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with ground black pepper.

Salad with asparagus, poached eggs and smoked chicken

Wash lettuce, pat dry and place in a bowl. Finely chop the shallot, chop the chives into large pieces. Blanch the tomatoes, remove the skin, remove the seeds, cut into 4 pieces and chop finely.

Blanch the asparagus for 1–1.5 minutes in boiling salted water, then plunge into ice water. Cut into pieces.

Pour vinegar into a saucepan with boiling water, twist the funnel with a whisk and carefully, in turn, release quail eggs. Bring the water to a boil and cook the eggs until they float to the surface. Take them out of the water.

Prepare the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together well.

Cut the smoked chicken breast into thin slices.

Mix corn lettuce with tomatoes, shallots, chives, asparagus and chicken breast. Mix with dressing.

Arrange dressed salad on a round platter, garnish with poached eggs and drizzle with olive oil.

"Caesar" with quail

Cut the quail into fillets without skin and bones, pour over with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill with thyme until tender.

Prepare croutons. Bread without crusts cut into cubes, sprinkle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped garlic. Stir and dry in a preheated oven until golden brown.

Prepare the Caesar sauce. Grind capers, anchovies and garlic, mix with mayonnaise and soy sauce, grated Parmesan and olive oil. ready sauce store in refrigerator until use.

Sort romaine lettuce leaves, wash and tear into large pieces. Add the tomato halves, a portion of the garlic croutons, half of the grated Parmesan and the Caesar dressing. Mix and put on a plate. Spread around the quail pieces and the remaining garlic croutons, sprinkle with parmesan.

End of introductory segment.

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reduced introductory fragment books Festive table in Italian (Collection of recipes, 2014) provided by our book partner -

Italian appetizers have their own special flavor, bright and sunny. That is why they are loved all over the world. If it is not possible to visit a restaurant, then we recommend trying them at home. Here is a selection of different interesting recipes.

Italian Appetizers - General Cooking Principles

Snacks in Italy are prepared light. Many are specifically designed to be served before pasta. Vegetables and herbs speed up digestion and prepare the stomach for a heavy and hearty meal.

What snacks are made from:

Tomatoes, eggplant and other vegetables;

Parmesan, mozzarella and other types of cheese;

Chicken, meat, seafood.

In gas stations, olive oil, various types of vinegar are often used. The addition of basil is welcome, in some recipes its amount is surprising. Black pepper may be present in snacks, it is better to grind it from peas before use so as not to lose the flavor.

Italian appetizer "Caprese"

Caprese is the simplest type of Italian appetizer. Despite a small amount of ingredients, it turns out unusually fragrant and tasty. Basil is one of critical components don't try to replace it with something.

Ingredients

4 sprigs of basil;

150 grams of mozzarella;

5 tomatoes;

5 st. l. oils;

Salt pepper.

Cooking

1. Wash and dry the tomatoes. Gotta choose ripe tomatoes, which are the same size as balls of cheese. In this case, the appetizer will have not only a harmonious appearance, but also taste.

2. Cut the tomatoes into even circles. Leave on the board. Once again, it is better not to touch the vegetable so that it does not lose juices.

3. Cut the mozzarella in the same circles.

4. Take a flat large plate. Put the appetizer in a circle in the form of a wreath, alternating slices of cheese and tomato, lay reclining.

5. Basil is better to take green. Rinse the sprigs in advance, dry, cut off all the leaves.

6. Lay leaves between tomatoes and cheese. Pour the rest into the center of the formed wreath. You can put for beauty and twigs.

7. Sprinkle a snack on top fine salt, pepper and pour over the wreath with olive oil.

8. Caprese cannot be stored, the appetizer is served in fresh after cooking, so no need to make ahead of time or use the ingredients in in large numbers.

Italian appetizer "Caponata" with eggplant

The main, but far from the only, ingredient in this Italian appetizer is eggplant. In general, in a sunny country they are actively used in cooking, and this is only one of popular recipes.

Ingredients

2 eggplants;

100 ml of oil;

onion head;

1 st. l. capers;

3 stalks of celery;

3 art. l. wine vinegar;

1.5 tablespoons of sugar;

1 st. l. pine nuts;

800 g of tomatoes in their juice.

Cooking

1. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, generously salt the flesh. Leave for about half an hour. Then the vegetables need to be salted, cut into small cubes.

2. Fry eggplants in olive oil for seven minutes. They should become softer, but not fall apart. Transfer to a saucepan, add more oil to this pan.

3. Cut the onion, throw it into the oil. Cook vegetables for a couple of minutes.

4. Add diced celery stalks. Hold for a few more minutes on the fire along with the onion.

5. Add tomatoes to your juice. They can be laid whole or chopped with a blender. We do what we like. Cook over medium heat until the celery is soft. It's about ten minutes long.

6. We shift these vegetables to the eggplants.

7. Add sugar, vinegar and salt, pepper. Putting the capers pine nuts. Stir gently so as not to damage the pieces of vegetables.

8. Cooking for small fire another five minutes, cool. We shift into a bowl with a lid, let it brew in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Italian appetizer of eggplant with sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes are used in many Italian appetizers, but eggplants are especially well combined with them. For your attention one of best recipes fragrant rolls. Additionally, you will need mozzarella, which, if desired, can be replaced with other types of cheese.

Ingredients

Two eggplants;

100 g sun-dried tomatoes;

4 tbsp. l. olive oil;

2 sprigs of basil;

2 balls of mozzarella;

2 cloves of garlic.

Cooking

1. If the eggplants are not bitter, then immediately cut them into thin long slices, send them to a greased frying pan and fry over medium heat until fully prepared. If a specific bitterness is present, then pre-soak, then also fry. You should not pour a lot of oil, just grease the surface, and in order for the vegetable to cook inside, just turn down the heat.

2. Chop garlic and basil, transfer to a mortar, add black pepper and knead thoroughly. will appear amazing aroma.

3. Mix the garlic mass with olive oil. You can replace it with sour cream. Yogurt or mayonnaise if you don't want to get too greasy snack.

4. Lubricate all eggplant plates with sauce.

5. Cut the cheese into roughly the same pieces as tomatoes.

6. Put a piece of cheese and a tomato in each eggplant, roll up the roll.

7. We transfer the rolls to a plate, you can use any greens for decoration, but it’s better to take basil.

Italian appetizer "Bruschetta" with tomatoes and chicken

Bruschetta are Italian sandwiches. Used for appetizers different types cheese, basil, eggplant, tomatoes, but the combination of tomatoes and chicken is especially successful and satisfying.

Ingredients

half white loaf;

250 g chicken;

2 tomatoes;

0.5 tsp coriander;

2 sprigs of basil;

Salt, spices, oil.

Cooking

1. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes for a few seconds. Then rinse cold water and remove the skin. Cut into cubes.

2. Cut the chicken flesh small pieces, throw into a frying pan, fry over high heat until golden brown.

3. Add chopped tomatoes, remove heat, cover the pan and simmer until soft.

4. Season with chopped basil, salt. Crush coriander seeds and add to total mass. Stir.

5. Cut White bread or loaf slices. Dry in the oven or use a toaster.

6. Lubricate slices of bread with tomato mass, apply generously. Additionally, you can decorate the bruschetta fresh basil.

Italian appetizer of spicy tomatoes

It turns out that for the preparation of Italian snacks, it is not necessary to buy half the store. Sometimes it is enough to have only tomatoes and different spices.

Ingredients

3 tomatoes;

10 ml of apple or wine vinegar;

1 st. l. chopped greens;

2 tbsp. l. olive oils;

1 clove of garlic;

Black pepper;

0.5 tsp. salt and sugar.

Cooking

1. Tomatoes need to be cut into circles, but do not do it very thinly. About half an inch.

2. Mix vinegar with sugar and salt, pepper, add olive oil and squeeze out a clove of garlic. In general, you can throw everything into a bowl and beat with a blender.

3. Lubricate each tomato with the prepared marinade, laying three pieces on top of each other, lightly press down.

4. Put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then take out the appetizer, sprinkle with herbs and you can serve!

Italian appetizer "Carpaccio" with beef

Meat variant an Italian appetizer that uses beef. It is very important to use fresh meat High Quality, because in classic version it is not heat treated. But if desired, you can lightly fry.

Ingredients

0.2 kg of meat;

30 grams of parmesan;

A small handful of basil leaves;

15 grams of capers;

3 grams of salt;

20 ml of oil;

15 ml balsamic vinegar

Cooking

1. Cut the beef into thin layers. We cover cling film, beat off with a hammer. Can be cut into strips if the plates are large.

2. We shift the meat onto a plate, pour over the vinegar, sprinkle with salt, pepper, sprinkle with olive oil. You can leave to marinate for a while.

3. Now just spread the capers on top, add the grated parmesan.

4. We supplement the dish with fresh basil greens.

Italian appetizer of eggplant with mint

Variant of Italian marinated eggplant with mint. IN original recipe white varieties are used. blue eggplant can also be taken, but only with a thin and delicate skin.

Ingredients

700 g eggplant;

1.3 tsp salt;

5 st. l. wine vinegar;

A clove of garlic;

35 g mint;

110 g of olive oil;

10 g sugar.

Cooking

1. Cut the eggplant into strips along, add 1 tsp. salt, stir. Leave for half an hour.

2. Throw the vegetable in boiling water, boil for a minute, send to a colander.

3. Prepare the vinegar marinade. Oils. Add the rest of the salt, sugar, stir. Pour into a saucepan and heat over low heat.

4. Chop fresh mint, add garlic, stir and pour over the marinade.

5. Transfer the cooked eggplants with the mint mixture. Lay the rest on top.

6. Put in the refrigerator for 5 hours and the Italian appetizer is ready!

Love Italian snacks? Then you need to stock up on basil. It can be dried for the winter and frozen in the same way as regular dill. Your own greens are much more aromatic than purchased analogues, besides, you can thoroughly wash and dry them, which is not always done in factories.

No mozzarella? This cheese can be replaced with other brine types. Something like him goat cheese. In any case, the lack of mozzarella is not a reason to refuse Italian snacks.

Eggplant is often used in Italian dishes and is usually fried. If you don’t like the abundance of fat, then try cooking pieces of vegetable on a grill pan or in the oven, it will turn out no worse.

Antipasti (“antipasti” or “antipasto”, if in the singular) are Italian snacks, without which no long Italian meal is unthinkable. In the literal translation, “antipasti” is “before eating”, that is, a dish used as a prelude to the main hearty meals lunch or dinner. Below we list in detail the main types of Italian snacks. There will be dishes with smoked meats, and vegetables marinated in oil, and dishes with olives, and caprese, and dishes with cheeses and seafood, and, and, and dishes with pieces fresh fruit and greenery.

The choice of Italian snacks is truly huge. In general, it should be said that if in some institution Catering associated with Italian cuisine, they will not be able to offer it to you, then this will only speak of the unprofessionalism of the local chefs. Generally, the higher the class Italian restaurant, the higher the chance that there you will find a demonstration showcase with snacks, where you can choose those that your heart desires.

Types of antipasti

All Italian appetizers can be divided into three main types: meat antipasti, fish antipasti and vegetarian antipasti.

If you suddenly have to order them in Italy, then my advice to you is to try to order fish antipasti where they definitely know how to cook them, that is, in coastal cities: Catania, Rimini, Livorno, Genoa, Venice and Milan. The latter is not on the sea, but there is always the most fresh fish and virtuoso chefs in fish antipasti.

In the central part of the country, where it is relatively far from the sea (not by our standards), I would recommend trying meat antipasti: in Verona, in Brescia, in Mantua.

Let's not forget that to fish dishes(and this applies to appetizers to the same extent) white wine is perfect, and it is better to order red wine with meat antipasti. You can even go with fish beer if it comes to that, but by no means take it local vodka(grappa). This is, let's say, an amateur.

Antipasti di pesce - fish snacks

Antipasto di pesce

Antipasto di pesce- Assorted cold fish appetizer. It is characteristic that there should not be a lot of fish in its composition. What should: shrimp, lobsters, crustaceans, barnacles and are allowed small pieces fish.

Capesante

Capesante is the antipasti of scallops. Translated from Italian means "Holy Head". It so happened historically that in medieval Italy scallops were distributed everywhere and were eaten by the poorest segments of the population, mainly by poor monks. They could catch scallops during their long wanderings at any point on the coast and cook them right here on the spot. And they had practically no other food.

Carpaccio di pesce spada (salmone, tonno)

Carpaccio di pesce spada (salmone, tonno)- antipasti in the form of slicing swordfish (salmon, tuna). It happens in the form of cutting all three types, then it is called tris di pesce. The fish must be smoked.

Cocktail di gamberetti con salsa rosa

Cocktail di gamberetti con salsa rosa– carefully cleaned pink shrimps with thick sauce. Very tasty snack!

Cozze and Vongole

Cozze and Vongole- these are mussels and small gray boiled shells, which we call "venerki". Excellent and very healthy dish which goes well with white wine.

Cozze alla Marinara

Cozze alla Marinara- in general, this is the same dish as Zuppa di Cozze, that is, fisherman's mussels. Mussels boiled in own juice(just in a deep bowl without water). In the process of cooking, they open up on their own. To the dish Cozze alla Marinara an empty bowl is also served to dump inedible shells. But if the shell did not open during cooking, then you just need to throw it away entirely - it was spoiled even before they tried to cook it. It is not always possible to determine this in advance. This dish you can pepper abundantly and add tomatoes, then we get another dish - Pepato.

Crudo di mare

It's just another name for a dish. Antipasto di pesce.

Frittura di Calamari

Frittura di Calamari- this is a very heavy fat for the stomach fried dish. It translates as "deep-fried squid". Other inhabitants of the deep sea may also be found as a supplement in deep fat.

Insalata ai frutti di mare

Insalata ai frutti di mare- funny translation "from marine reptiles». boiled squid, octopuses, mussels and all sorts of other things that were caught in the nets during the night and were taken aboard the fishing boats in the morning. Abundantly watered lemon juice and olive oil.

Moscardini in umido

Moscardini in umido are antipasti made from small boiled octopuses that are watered tomato sauce and served with polenta. Tasty enough even for seafood skeptics.

Pepata

Pepata- fish antipasti, which is more savory option dishes Cozze alla Marinara. The name translates as "peppered". As we wrote above, the main difference from Cozze alla Marinara is to add tomato and pepper.

Tartara di tonno (di salmone)

Tartara di tonno (di salmone)- tartare from tuna (salmon). Tuna (salmon) is very finely chopped and molded into a patty-like shape. Initially, the ingredient should be lightly salted.

Zuppa di cozze (di pesce)

Zuppa di cozze Cozze alla Marinara.

Zuppa di pesce- (from marine reptiles) will differ in that, in addition to mussels, a couple will be added to it tiger prawns or a couple of crabs. We can say that this dish is a relative of Russian fish soup, though not the closest.

Antipasti di carne - meat appetizers

Affettato misto

Affettato misto- Assorted meat antipasti. May include: p rosciutto crudo(raw smoked ham jamon), salame (smoked sausage) and s oppressa(this is in the Veneto region, dry-cured thick salami).

Bresaola

Bresaola- bresaola. This is beef that was salted for about 2 weeks and then aged for about 2-3 months. Bresaola is consumed raw, is highly digestible and contains almost no fat, but contains a lot of iron and protein. As an option: Bresaola Equina or "Horse Bresaola".

Carpaccio con rucola e grana

Carpaccio con rucola e grana- antipasti of lightly marinated beef, which is cut into thin slices. Dandelion and some hard cheese, for example, cheese, are added to this dish in the classic version. Grana. Also called "carpaccio" and seasoned with lemon juice (fresh) and olive oil.

Mortadella

Mortadella These are antipasti from the city of Bologna. Thinly sliced ​​boiled sausage of solid diameter. Pistachios, olives can be added to the dish.

Prosciutto crudo

Prosciutto crudo is a common Italian antipasti. Dry-cured ham, which is thinly sliced. Simple and tasteful. And perhaps the most famous of the Italian dry-cured hams - Parma ham (Prosciutto di Parma).

Prosciutto e Melone

Prosciutto e Melone- ham with melon and, in fact, a complicated version of the previous antipasti. Melon slices are added to dry-cured ham. It is hard to imagine that this can be successfully combined, but nonetheless.

Tagliere di Salumi

Tagliere di Salumi It's just another name for a dish. Affettato misto. The name translates as "Plate with Smoked Meats".

Italian vegetarian snacks

Bruschetta

Bruschetta- in the translation "roast". Bruschetta is white bread soaked in olive oil and garlic, fried and garnished with tomato slices. Delicious and satisfying, and most importantly - very quickly prepared.

caprese

caprese- in the nearest translation from Italian “a dish from the island of Capri”, where Maxim Gorky liked to visit a century ago. It's not that far from the city of Naples. Caprese is tomatoes and cheese. Mozzarella"). Well, the ultimate dream of every caprese is to be made from buffalo milk - " Mozzarella di buffala.

Insalata mista

Insalata mista- is both a side dish and an appetizer - you can order it this way and that. Contains: red bitter lettuce, green salad, arugula and carrots. As a dressing, you can use olive oil, balsamic vinegar (you can also use regular), salt and pepper.

Polenta

Polenta- This is a dish typical of the northern regions of Italy, which came to us from antiquity. - This corn porridge, which can be toasted and thick. Corn replaced millet in the Middle Ages when seafarers brought it from the New World. Depending on the overall satiety of the meal, it can be considered both an antipasti and a second course.

Tagliere di Formaggi

Tagliere di Formaggi- translated into Russian as "Plate with Cheese". Usually, Tagliere di Formaggi It's a slice of cheese. For example, you can serve Gorgonzola or Brie cheeses (soft with mold) and Granu or Parmesan ( hard cheeses). You can also add special jam to the dish - Mostarda.

sandwich recipes

On the pages of this section you will also find sandwich recipes Italian cuisine. Sandwiches and snacks are an integral part of any developed cuisine, including Italian. Distinctive feature Italian sandwiches, like all Italian cuisine in general, can be called the mandatory use of fresh herbs, vegetables and sauces in the vast majority of recipes.

All of the above also applies to traditional snacks Italian cuisine. So, read and prepare - sandwich recipes and appetizers of Italian cuisine.