When you're tired and hungry what's the fastest thing to pull together for lunch?
You guessed it! The picture above is Antipasto! Now "Antipasto is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal. Usually made of bite-size small portions and served on a platter that everyone can serves themselves from, the purpose of antipasti is to stimulate the appetite. Ok Italian readers do I have that right? At least that's what my research told me.
Well for me, I think this is the perfect "Munch for Lunch"
This may be traditional for formal dinners but for me it's the perfect munch for lunch when you're tired and don't feel like going to a lot of trouble to fill your belly. It's so easy to open the fridge and pull out the cold stuff and munch out. I bet most of the stuff in your fridge right now is the makings for Antipasto. Now let's look into what actually is the common food for "Antipasto".
Typical ingredients of a traditional antipasto include...
...cured meats, olives, pepperoncini, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts, various cheeses such as provolone or mozzarella, (oh I love provolone cheese) (it's always in my frig) pickled meats, and vegetables in oil or vinegar.
Well, I've been eating Antipasto for lunch for years and didn't know it.
I had no idea my favorite things that I pull out of the refrigerator was the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal until I started doing some research and found my taste buds, had been craving Italian food. LOL~
My research said there was a seafood version too
but I don't usually keep seafood in my frig and I don't think I have ever ate any seafood cold either. Nor have I ate any in olive oil or vinegar. That's an experience I haven't experienced yet. wink~
It seems the seafood version is calamari, mussels, smoked salmon, tuna fish, olives. What do you say? Do I have any readers from Italy? What else goes with this? I'm sure the contents of an antipasto vary greatly according to regional cuisine too.
It seems many people compare antipasto to hors d'oeuvre
but antipasto is served at the table and signifies the official beginning of the Italian meal. Do you know what this reminds me of? Take a look at the photo above again. If it was larger portions I would think it would pass as a Charcuterie Board spread don't you think?
In Closing
Antipasto may also be referred to as a starter, or an appetizer. But today.... for meeee..... it was a meal and a no fuss meal that I thoroughly enjoyed.
While this subject is fresh in my mind, I think I'm going to work up some posts about "Charcuterie Boards" and "Grazing Platters" for you guys. Everybody's always looking for easy ways to entertain so I'm thinking those posts would be helpful. So keep check if your interested in that. I will start doing my research on it come Monday ok.
And as always, I've listed related 📅 calendar dates below 🠟, and any related shopping links 🛒 that would be helpful to this article.
"Live everyday like a holiday." Love Pam
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