Italian Appetizers (Antipasti)
In Italy, a meal begins with antipasti: small, simple dishes to share with a glass of wine while everyone gathers at the table. In Tuscany that usually means crostini and bruschetta on toasted country bread, a slice of focaccia, a few vegetables preserved in olive oil, or something fried and eaten straight from the pan.
These are the appetizers we make with guests at our cooking school, from tomato and basil bruschetta and Tuscan chicken liver crostini to mushroom and eggplant crostini, salsa verde canapés, cecina chickpea flatbread from Livorno and fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with mozzarella.
Tuscan mushroom crostini with porcini and Vin Santo
Best served warm, these crostini will have your guests demanding more. You'll see that the vin santo gives the mushrooms a very special flavour, and the butter gives them a melt in the mouth texture.
Rustic half whole wheat focaccia with rosemary
An easy but unusual focaccia recipe which makes a rustic-textured, half wholewheat bread. Ideal to eat with cheeses and salad.
Crostini with roasted peppers and goat cheese
Crostini are little appetizers that you can invent yourself depending on what’s in season and what ingredients you happen to have around. We often serve these crostini (which are red, white and yellow) alongside our green salsa verde crostini. A pretty combination!
Eggplant croquettes (polpette di melanzane) with ricotta and Parmesan
One of the most delicious things invented! Best fried just before you serve them, but they are fine at room temperature too if it’s a hot day. These go quickly when we make them at our cooking school in Tuscany!
Whole wheat focaccia with cherry tomatoes and oregano
An easy but unusual focaccia recipe which makes a rustic-textured, half wholewheat bread. Ideal to eat with cheeses and salad.
Tuscan bean and escarole crostini
You can serve small quantities of this Tuscan bean dish on crostini, as an appetizer, or larger quantities as a hearty soup.
Sweet and sour baby onions in balsamic vinegar (cipolline in agrodolce)
Your guests will be fighting over these tangy onions! Remember to provide plenty of bread to mop up the delicious caramelized sauce coating them. At our cooking school in Tuscany, this side dish is one of the biggest hits!
Homemade sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil with capers and garlic
Sundried tomatoes prepared like this tend to much tastier than the ones you find already prepared in oil.
Salsa verde crostini: Tuscan green sauce with parsley and capers
Crostini are little appetizers that you can invent yourself depending on what’s in season and what you have in the house. Salsa verde is a tangy herby sauce often served to accompany boiled meats, but delicious in its own right.
Crostini toscani: Tuscan chicken liver pâté with capers and vin santo
This is the most classic of all Tuscan crostini. Even those who say they don’t like paté love this one!
Fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with mozzarella and basil
This is a dish to be made and savoured immediately. You can even make it as a pre-dinner nibble while you finish cooking something time-consuming with friends.
Eggplant crostini (crostini di melanzane)
Crostini are little appetizers that you can invent yourself depending on what’s in season and what ingredients you happen to have around. It is easy to cook eggplant in too much oil, since it is something of an oil sponge… this recipe seals the eggplant before oil is added so that you use less oil.
Tomato and basil bruschetta: the classic Italian appetizer
In Italian, this simple but delicious tomato appetizer is pronounced "Brusketta". Obviously, use the tastiest tomatoes that you can get hold of. Often, cherry tomatoes have a lot more flavour than larger varieties.
Cecina: Tuscan chickpea flatbread from Livorno
There are versions of this all the way up to the French Riviera. In Livorno (Leghorn) it is served as an energy-packed sandwich.
Eggplant caviar: roasted eggplant dip with lemon, yogurt and cumin
This eggplant caviar is fresh and lemony. A little cumin gives it a hint of the Middle East.