Tag: charcuterie
Mortadella Pasta Salad
“Pasta salad: both pretty boring and the most popular dish at every outdoor gathering you go to, a true mystery of our time.”
Alison Roman
Thank you Alison for that oh-so-true food nugget.
While pasta salad has to be the most ubiquitous summer potluck item, there is much to be improved on the expected curly noodles, black olives, and bottle of Italian dressing pasta salad.
This recipe, brought to you by another great cookbook author Molly Baz, incorporates one of the most underrated meats in the Aperitivo case – mortadella.
You can sub any other thinly sliced cured meat from the case, but morty-d adds a beautiful creamy, fatty, and saltiness to the pasta salad.
This is a perfect salad to make a few days before, add the nuts and herbs before serving, and snack on it the entire day.
Mortadella Pasta Salad
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 lbs dried large short cut pasta – rigatoni, cavatappi, whatever the fun shape from the photo is called
- 1 lbs fresh mozz – cow or buffalo
- ½ lbs mortadella – thinly sliced
- ⅔ cup pistachios – chopped
- 1 cup basil leaves – torn
For the dressing:
- 1 ½ cup Castelvetrano olives – about one small container
- 2 lemons
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 ½ oz grated hard Italian cheese – Parm, Pecorino Romano, Toscano, Provolone
- ⅔ cup EVOO
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Boil noodles according to package directions in salted water. Drain and rinse under cold water to wash off the excess starch. Let cool.
Make the dressing:
- Pit the olives and tear the flesh in half. Add to a large bowl.
- Zest one whole lemon into the bowl. Cut both lemons in half and squeeze the juice over the olives.
- Grate the garlic into the bowl. Add the grated cheese.
- Pour in the EVOO, season with salt and pepper, and stir the dressing together.
Assemble the salad:
- Tear the fresh mozz and mortadella into bite-sized pieces and add to the bowl.
- Add the cooled pasta and gently stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and lots of pepper.
- Just before serving, add the chopped pistachios and torn basil leaves.
- Serve cold or room temp.
Danish with Havarti
Inspiration comes from anywhere these days – the internet, TV shows, overhearing someone misinterpret a menu item.
While shopping at the cheese counter recently, a pair of patrons misunderstood the Danish Havarti on the meltdown as a Cheese Danish with Havarti.
Sadly, they were informed that there were no Havariti danishes behind the counter. But it sparked a thought. Why not make a traditional style cheese Danish, but use Havarti.
That idea spiraled into incorporating some Fra’mani Rosemary Ham and Beau Bien Herbed Red Onion Marmalade. Grabbed some puff pastry on the way home, and ta da! A Danish with Havarti.
Danish with Havarti
Ingredients
- 0.25 – 0.5 lbs piece Danish Havarti
- 0.25 lbs Fra’mani Rosemary Ham, thinly sliced from the counter
- ¼ cup Beau Bien Herbed Red Onion Marmalade
- 1 package all-butter puff pastry, thawed
- 1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp of water
- fresh rosemary or thyme, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Grate the Havarti on the large holes on a box grater.
- Coarsely chop the sliced ham.
- In a small bowl, mix together the shredded Havarti and chopped ham.
- Unfold out the sheets of puff pastry and cut each one into 8 squares. You may need to gently stretch the pastry to get a square shape.
- To make a "kite" shape, start with the corners at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock postitions. Fold the 6 o'clock corner up to the 12 o'clock corner to make a triangle. Cut two slits up from the folded line, towards the 12 o'clock corner, leaving a small section still attached. Unfold the square.
- With the attached corners at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock position, grab the 9 o’clock corner and fold it across to the 3 o’clock corner. Reach your fingers through the middle square and grab the 3 o’clock corner and pull it underneath the piece over the top, returning it to the 9 o’clock position. Flatten to create a little pocket in the middle. (See photos below.)
- Spoon a small amount of jam in each cavity. Top with a scoop of the cheese and ham mixture.
- Brush the exposed pastry with egg wash and place in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm up.
- Set in the 400F oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the pastry is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Sprinkle with chooped rosemary or thyme.
- Let cool and enjoy.
Cheesy Capocollo Quiche
This extra cheesy, extra meaty quiche screams #brunchgoals.
Using a double cream cheese like Sweet Grass’s Green Hill will add a rich and melty texture to the quiche that oozes out when you slice into it.
Take the opportunity to use whatever veg, meats, and herbs are hanging in your fridge:
- Sliced piquillo peppers and blanched spinach, roasted broccoli, asparagus, peas, roasted sweet potatoes.
- Sliced ham, rotisserie chicken, smoked salmon, or spicy Capocollo from Smoking Goose sliced from the meat counter.
- Basil, dill, parsley, mint, thyme
Cutting the cheese into wedges creates these melty pockets of creamy cheese, but it does take the quiche a bit longer to set. Give the quiche the jiggle test a few times before removing it from the oven. The egg custard should be set and the middle should barely jiggle.
Cheesy Capocollo Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 package premade pie dough
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 Tbsp parsely, chopped
- 1 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 6 piquillo peppers, thinly sliced
- ½ cup blanched spinach
- 4 oz. Smoking Goose Capocollo, thinly sliced
- 8 oz. Green Hill, cut into 16 wedges
- Microgreens or extra chopped herbs for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a pie pan and allow dough to slump down into the pan. Cut away the excess dough that hangs over the pan and place in the freezer for 10–15 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the freezer and line with parchment paper. Place rice or beans on top of the paper, evenly covering the surface of the crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully pour out the hot rice or beans and use a fork to prick a few holes in the bottom of the crust. Put the crust back in the oven to bake until lightly golden, about another 10–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a baking sheet.
- To make the egg custard, whisk together eggs, heavy whipping cream, whole milk, chopped herbs, salt, and pepper. Pour into a spouted measuring cup. Set aside.
- Start filling the crust by scattering half of the sliced piquillos and spinach on the bottom of the crust. Arrange the wedges of cheese on top, turning the wedges to face different directions. Nestle slices of Capocollo in between the cheese wedges and top with remaining piquillos and spinach.
- Gently pour the egg custard into the nooks and crannies of the filling.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the egg custard is set, the cheese is melted, and the edges of the Capocollo start to crisp up, about 40-50 minutes.
- Cool for 30 minutes. Sprinkle on microgreens or chopped herbs. Serve warm or at room temp.
Mussels & Corn in a Spicy Tomato Broth
Though this recipe is titled “Mussels & Corn in a Spicy Tomato Broth,” it might as well be called “Liquid Gold I’d Like to Dip Everything In Sight In.”
The broth has a wonderful sweet and spiciness from the corn kernels and the Calabrian chilis, along with some bright acid from the wine and tomatoes and meaty richness from the pancetta. Everything blends together and begs, nay yearns for some crusty bread to dip into to.
And don’t feel limited to just mussels here. You can use clams, shrimp, any firm white fish – just gently poach until cooked through. Or don’t even feel limited to seafood for that matter. This sauce makes an awesome eggs-in-purgatory base the next morning – if there are any leftovers.
This recipe does lend itself to late summer produce – corn and tomatoes. But if you have a craving during the winter months, frozen corn kernels will work just fine. Just skip the roasting step. Cherry tomatoes are generally available all year round, but a few whole canned tomatoes would work as well.
If you haven’t picked up a jar of the Divina Calabrian Chili peppers yet, do yourself a favor and run now and get one. The Calabria region of Italy produces some of Aperitivo’s favorite things (wink wink, ‘nduja) and these peppers lend unmatchable spiciness with a tiny hint of sweetness to anything you add them to.
Langhe Arneis is a perfect wine, both to use and drink with, this dish. The Northern Italian bottle has notes of ripe pears and limestone. Any dry and acidic white wine can work in this dish, but get something that you still want to drink after you use what you need to in the recipe.
Because you already get the gist that “crusty bread for dipping” is a non-negotiable for this dish, high-quality butter for the bread is a close second. Pull it out of the fridge before you start cooking. That way it will be soft and spreadable by the time dinner is served. Trust us. High quality, high fat, room temperature butter takes your bite from, “this is delicious,” to “this is so freaking delicious I don’t know what to do with myself.” And that just sounds more fun, right?
Mussels & Corn in a Spicy Tomato Broth
Ingredients
- 3 ears fresh corn on the cob
- 1 Tbsp EVOO
- ¼ pound thick-sliced pancetta – diced into small cubes (about ¼ in.)
- 1 small red onion – diced
- 2 garlic cloves – chopped
- 1 – 3 Divina Calabrian Chili peppers – coarsely chopped
- 2 cups assorted tomatoes – heirloom, cherry, grape, etc.
- 1 cup dry white wine – try the Langhe Arneis
- 24 mussels – scrubbed
- 2 Tbsp butter – plus more for bread
- 1 Tbsp chives – chopped
- Crusty bread – for dipping
Instructions
- Roast corn cobs in a dry cast iron pan over medium-high heat, rotating around until some kernels begin to get charred, about 8 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, slice the kernels off the cob and set aside.
- Wipe out the pan and return to medium-low heat. (You may need to keep the pan off the heat for a few minutes to cool down.)
- Add EVOO, cubed pancetta, and diced red onion and cook over medium-low heat until the fat starts to render and the onions become translucent about 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped garlic and Calabrian peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes, chopping larger ones and cook until they start to burst and release their juices, an additional 4 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with wine, scraping up the bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Before you add the mussels, discard any that won’t close. Gently add into the pan, along with two tablespoons of butter.
- Cover the pan and simmer until the mussels begin to open, about 5-7 minutes. Discard any mussels that don’t open. Pour corn kernels back into the pan and gently stir to combine.
- Serve out of the cast iron pan, or place a few mussels in a shallow bowl and spoon corn and broth over the top.Garnish with fresh chopped chives and serve with lots of crusty bread and butter.
Notes
*This recipe is very scalable, serving 2 – 4 as is. If you have more people, get more mussels. If you need to add more, bump up the wine by a half a cup. Or if you’d rather save the wine for drinking, add a half cup extra of water instead.
Tomato Ricotta Zucchini Rollatini
Late summer’s harvest can sometimes get a bit excessive. Having giant zucchinis and hundreds of juicy cherry tomatoes overflowing in bowls in your kitchen is a wonderful problem to have. But you still need to find a way to use the abundance of veggies before they pass their prime.
Combining sweet cherry tomatoes with fluffy ricotta cheese to make a rich and creamy sauce makes a delicious base for rolled zucchini slices.
If you have leftover Tomato Ricotta sauce, it is great tossed with pasta, spooned over roasted vegetables, or smeared cold over crusty bread.
Tomato Ricotta Zucchini Rollatini
Ingredients
Tomato Ricotta Sauce
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano freshly grated
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Zucchini Rollatini
- 1 large zucchini or 2 small
- salt and peper
- 12 slices La Quercia Prosciutto thinly sliced
- 1 ball fresh mozzarella sliced into 12 pieces
- ¼ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano plus more to finish
- Fresh basil leaves
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- To make the sauce, process the tomatoes, cheeses, garlic, anchovy fillets, and olive oil in a food processor until smooth. Add the basil, and pulse until combined but with some green flecks, 7 to 8 times. Taste and add salt and pepper. Use right away for zucchini rollatini, or cover and refrigerate for up to one week.
- To make the rollatini, preheat a grill pan on medium-high heat. Using a mandoline, slice the zucchini lengthwise into thin strips until you have 12 full slices. Strips should be a little less than ¼ in. Season both sides of the zucchini slices.
- Spray grill pan with cooking spray. Grill zucchini slices 2 minutes on one side until slightly softened and grill marks appear. Gently flip over and grill for another 30 seconds. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat with all zucchini slices.
- Preheat oven to 400℉. Spread 1/4 cup of the tomato ricotta sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
- On a cutting board, lay out a slice of zucchini. Take one slice of prosciutto and lay flat across zucchini. Place a piece of mozzarella on one side of the zucchini and roll up the slice. Place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until all 12 slices are complete.
- Spoon additional sauce on top of each zucchini rollatini and sprinkle on freshly grated Parmesan. Bake in the 400℉ oven for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.
- Top with torn basil leaves, more grated Parmesan cheese, and serve.
Sweet and Spicy Prosciutto Chips
Thinly sliced prosciutto is a mainstay on any charcuterie board. But why not mix it up a bit?
La Quercia prosciutto slices get sprinkled with a flavorful spice mixture and become crispy and crunchy after being baked in the oven.
Harissa is a North African spice blend. If you can’t find a ground Harissa mix, you can use any chili powder blend.
These sweet and spicy prosciutto chips are an addicting snack great to crumble over salad and pasta, or to serve alongside olives and cheese.
Sweet and Spicy Prosciutto Chips
Ingredients
- 12 slices La Quercia Prosciutto
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp Harissa powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp EVOO
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, Harissa, and salt until well combined.
- Lay the slices flat on the parchment, without overlapping. Brush each slice with a little EVOO and sprinkle the spice mixture over the top.
- Bake the prosciutto slices for 10-12 minutes until they begin to get crispy and caramelized. Bake for longer if the slices are thicker.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy right away, or store at room temperature for a few hours.
Flatbread Combo – Pancetta, Olives and Fried Shallots
There are countless combinations that can be created with ingredients from the shelves of Aperitivo, and over the years, certain combinations have become favorites. Staff members have their go-to combo they recommend to customers, and customers come back and share amazing and delicious pairings they’ve put together at home.
Whether it’s for a salad, flatbread, pizza or nachos, certain ingredients just taste great together.
This flatbread uses an Aperitivo favorite, La Quercia Pancetta spread, bright Castelvetrano olives, crispy fried shallots and a squeeze of lemon. If you are feeling extra motivated, make your own flatbread! If not, use store-bought lavash, naan, pizza dough or tortas to pile on these great flavors.
You can buy a large container of already fried shallots at most Asian grocery stores, but they are also easy peasy to make.
Flatbread with Pancetta, Olives and Fried Shallots
- Lavash cracker, naan bread, store-bought pizza dough, or homemade flatbread
- La Quercia Pancetta spread, set out at room temperature for 15 minutes
- 6-8 Castelvetrano olives, pitted and sliced
- Fried shallots
- 1 lemon, zested and sliced in half
- Parsley, torn or coarsely chopped
- Black pepper
Bake or warm flatbread or crackers and place on serving platter.
Squeeze out a tablespoon of the pancetta spread and generously smear all over flatbread. Add more if necessary.
Sprinkle sliced olives, fried shallots, lemon zest and parsley evenly over the flatbread. Squeeze the lemon half over the flatbread, and crack a few grinds of black pepper over the whole thing.
Serve by tearing, cracking or slicing off pieces of the flatbread.
Aperitivo Cocktail Meatballs
While it feels very Mad Men-esque to serve tiny meatballs in a sweet jelly sauce, they are still a pretty damn good party food.
This takes a slight departure from the traditional grape jelly and ketchup mixture by using Wildly Delicious Beet and Red Onion Marmalade to achieve that same sticky sweet and sourness.
The Aperitivo twist on these meatballs is using mortadella. The yummy Italian bologna makes the meatballs moist and tender and adds a unique peppery flavor. These meatballs would also be great with pasta and tomato sauce, in a meatball sub or on a platter with a bright and acidic salsa verde dipping sauce
Using a tablespoon to measure the meatballs, this recipe makes about 30. If you’d like them smaller than a golf ball, use ½ tablespoon to scoop out the meatballs. Or if you have a very hungry crowd, this recipe can easily be doubled, or tripled.
Aperitivo cocktail meatballs
1 garlic clove- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- 1 – 1 ¼ lbs ground pork
- ½ lbs thinly sliced mortadella
- 1 jar Wildly Delicious Beet and Red Onion Marmalade
- 1 12 oz. bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Grate the garlic clove into a large bowl. Crack the egg in the bowl, add the salt, pepper and olive oil then whisk to combine.
Finely chop the mortadella slices and add to the bowl along with the Panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan and the ground pork. Mix everything together with your hands until all the ingredients are combined.
Before you roll out the meatballs, form a small tester patty and cook in a skillet for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. The mortadella is quite salty, so you might not need to add any additional salt. After adjusting the seasoning, form all the meatballs.
Using a tablespoon to scoop the meat, form golf ball sized balls and place on an oiled rimmed baking sheet, about an inch apart. Bake for 16 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through.
While the meatballs are cooking, add the jar of marmalade and chili sauce to a crockpot. Fill the empty chili sauce jar halfway with water and shake to remove all sauce from the sides of the jar. Pour into the crockpot and stir to combine. Turn on the crockpot to HIGH to warm sauce.
Once the meatballs are cooked, add to the crockpot and gently fold into the sauce. Let the meatballs rest in the sauce for 30 minutes for the sauce to thicken and the flavors to meld together.
Keep the crockpot on low and serve with toothpicks.
Fig Wellingtons
A slight detour from a traditional Beef Wellington, these little sweet and savory puffs are a great snack to bring to any get-together.
Schaller & Weber’s Pâté with Goose adds a richness to these bites, but the entire tube won’t be utilized. Use the leftovers on a charcuterie board with crusty bread and cornichons, make decadent deviled eggs by adding a scoop to the yolk mixture, or gently melt the pâté with butter and a splash of sherry and toss with warm pasta.
Beau Bien Herbed Red Onion Marmalade is the jam used in this recipe, but get creative and swap for any of the amazing preserves on the Aperitivo shelves.
Most frozen puff pastry will have two sheets in the box. If you are feeling frisky and want to make 48, grab a larger container of figs and double the number of prosciutto slices.
Fig Wellingtons
Makes 24 two-bite snacks
- 1 sheet thawed puff pastry
- 12 dried black mission figs (a small container will have more than enough)
- 12 slices La Querica prosciutto
- 1 tube Schaller & Weber Pâté with Goose
- 1 jar Beau Bien Herbed Red Onion Marmalade
- 1 egg
- Assorted salts or seeds – poppy seed, flake salt, smoked salt, fleur de sel, sesame seeds, etc.
Preheat oven to 400℉ and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat, aluminum foil or baking spray.
Gently roll out thawed puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface until the rectangle almost doubles in size. Slice the sheet into 24 smaller pieces. Start by slicing the longer end of the sheet into thirds using the folded lines as a guide. Cut each third in half.
In the other direction, cut down the middle, then each of those halves in half. That should give you 24! Stack up the rectangles and cover with a damp paper towel until ready to assemble the wellingtons.
Slice the stem off 12 figs and cut in half lengthwise and keep to the side.
Cut each slice of prosciutto in half lengthwise and set aside. If the slices are extra long, cut into thirds and snack on the rest while you assemble.
Make an assembly line. Place the puff pastry stacks, halved figs, prosciutto slices and spoons in both the jam and pâté on a large cutting board. Fill a small bowl with water and use a pastry brush (or your finger) to seal the edges.
Start by rolling out 1 piece of puff pastry until it is roughly 2 in. x 3 in. Place a few slices of the onions on the middle of a prosciutto slice. Smear about a ½ teaspoon of the pâté on the fig and lay face down on the onion. Wrap the prosciutto around the fig and place in the middle of the puff pastry sheet. Brush the edges with water and bring the corners together. Seal the edges by squeezing and gently pressing down so there are no holes in the bottom. Set on the prepared sheet tray.
Repeat until all 24 are assembled. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush on each of the wellingtons. Sprinkle with salt or poppy seeds and bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway, until golden brown.
Let cool and serve with grainy mustard.
Fig Wellingtons can be made in advance. Once cooled, keep in an airtight container in the fridge and bring up to room temperature before serving.
Sofia, Speck and Quince “Sushi”
Sushi made with cheese. Sounds fun, right?
This hilarious and playful cheese snack comes from the DiBruno Bros. cookbook, House of Cheese.
The original “sushi” uses Rogue Smokey Blue, prosciutto and quince paste, which is presumably delicious. The Aperitivo version combines soft and beautiful Capriole Sofia and smokey La Quercia Speck with the quince. Look for a piece of Sofia that is ripe and a bit squishy.
This snack is a tad visually confusing with the quince paste looking very similar to raw tuna, but trust us. It’s yummy.
Sofia, Speck and Quince “Sushi”
- 0.25 pound La Querica Speck (about 2 sheets worth)
- 0.25 pound Capriole Sofia, at room temperature
- 1 package quince paste
Place Sofia in a small bowl and mash/stir together until smooth and spreadable. If you want it be more white in color, remove the outer rind before mixing.
Lay a 12-in piece of plastic wrap flat on the cutting board. Arrange the slices of speck across the plastic, slightly overlapping. (You should be able to gently pull the shingled slices directly from the paper in one piece)
Using a butter knife or offset spatula, spread the cheese on top of the speck slices, leaving a ¼ in border around the sides.
Slice the quince paste in half lengthwise and remove one half from the carton. Slice the piece in half again, then once more, making four strips. Place the quince paste strips about 1 inch from the bottom of the cheese and speck.
Beginning with the bottom edge, form a tight roll (like you would make a sushi roll), using the plastic wrap to assist. Keep the roll wrapped in the plastic wrap, and roll it in the brown butcher paper from the speck. (This keeps the speck from browning when exposed to light) Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
When ready to serve, gently slice the sushi into bite-sized pieces with a serrated knife. Arrange on a platter and serve.
