Antipasta

My family's own (possibly not secret anymore) recipe. Be careful, you wallet can quickly be drained by this one.

Step 1 Ingredients

1 Can Garbanzo Beans (Chick Peas)
1 Jar Marinated Mushrooms
1 or 2 Jars of Green Olives (stuffed or not stuffed - your call)
1 Jar of pickled veggies
1 Jar of Artichoke Hearts Marinated in oil
1 tiny jar of diced pimentos
1 can of anchovies (you may not like them, but I personally do)

1/2 lb Smoked Ham
1/2 lb Mozzarella Cheese
1/2lb Salami (I personally like the type with peppercorns)

1 Head of iceberg - washed and leaves separated

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Not Pictured/Not added this time

1 Jar hearts of palm
1 Can Black Olives

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Of course, fresh can replace can.

Comments

[krowii]

AMAZING! I have the urge to add capers.

[mcadwell]

Hmm, being Italian this isn't the antipasta I grew up with...but this looks very delish.

[canida]

Looks tasty! All it needs is some lemon slices, and maybe some marinated baby octopus. (See your Goya aisle for more details.) I'd go for romaine lettuce instead of iceberg- it stays crunchy, and is actually good to eat.

[trebuchet03]

oo - we'll have to try romaine later this month :P One thing that is great about this dish is that it evolves all the time. That is why I'm not emphasizing any particular brand.

If you find something that you think will make a good addition -- throw it in, see if it works. If it does - repeat. If it's bad - try something else. Much like regular cooking I guess :P

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It's funny you mentioned octopus. We tried octopus and squid one year. I liked it (I love everything seafood) but it creeped out some guests and we had more leftovers than usual :P

[canida]

People need to get over tentacles- they're the best part! I blame too much anime. Of course I can't complain- this means I usually get to steal all the tentacles from shared plates of calamari.

[spinach_dip]

My family's

• add hard boiled eggs, in quarters
• add tuna, white, drained and dropped in the center
• add capers, drained and soaked in plain water for a few minutes and drained again.
• add Italian dressing, or oil and vinegar, on top
  

Different:

• meats and cheese are not rolled, but are quartered and spread out as a layer on top of the lettuce
• No garbanzo (though they look good added)
• No pimentos or mushrooms (though they both seem like good additions too)
  

Although I like the anchovies, i always put them to the side because others don't.

Your right about "evolving over time", because the roots of this recipe are probably pretty old, yet we always serve this with New-York style bagels, which were not widely available until the last quarter of the 20th century, according to Wikipedia. Essentially the stuff gets forked on to fresh, sliced bagels, and eaten as a sandwidch, as the main dish. Yet antipasto means Italian hors d'oeuvres.

If you insist on calling this dish Antipasta, however, please at least never serve it at the same table as actual pasta. There will likely be a huge release of energy as an explosion. :P