Need simple Italian appetizer

for my dinner party on Saturday. I'd like to do something light with seafood since the rest of the meal is so rich. I have Grilled Asparagus & Prosciutto planned, but would really like something lighter. Any suggestions?

Rest of the menu:

Osso Bucco
Risotto Milanese
Spinach w/Raisins & Pine Nuts

Still Life Salad

Pane Rustica

Cassata Siciliana



Vino/ Espresso/ Liqueur

Not the kind with a tomato sauce...


saute shrimp in butter, garlic and Worcestershire Sauce and a few other things...
recipes all over the internetz

Thanks, Tesha. :hi:

The composed mosaic salad has melon in it, though. Watermelon, tomato, cucumber, avocado, honeydew. Maybe I should move it up to the appetizer status (and add the prosciutto as fans on the side) then do a granita where the salad course would normally be. The cake is very rich, Cointreau-soaked, filled with ricotta, shaved chocolate & orange peel, and frosted with mocha chocolate truffle ganache. Thanks! :hi:

as a palate refresher.

I'll see what I can find in the markets tomorrow. The farmer's market won't set up in cold, rainy weather, so I'm going to miss out on my last minute herbs.

Happy to help!

Buon appetito!

ps, with all that food, and to be 'authentic,' you could simplify appetizer/sslad.

:hug:

I'm thinking of something really really Italian.

You ought to be able to find some very good tinned Italian sardines to serve with thin slices of baguette or crackers, some grainy mustard, and perhaps some herb-spiced spiced olives and marinated cippolini onions.

Or look at this:

Shrimp with Pistachio Sauce

1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 anchovy fillets
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. capers
1 Tbsp. lemon juice, or more to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 lb large cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

Combine the pistachios, olive oil, anchovies, garlic, capers, lemon
juice, salt, and pepper in an electric blender or food processor and
process to make a paste. Combine with the cooked shrimp in a
bowl and toss to combine. Adjust seasoning with lemon juice, salt,
and pepper and serve chilled or at room temperature.

I always keep anchovies or anchovy paste on hand, and I'm sure I could probably find the sardines, too. The shrimp looks really elegant and I will eat just about anything with nuts in it or on it. Thanks! I'm printing this to keep! :hi:

Sliced baguette, olive oil brushing, broil, rub with cut cloves of garlic. Top with chopped tomato and basil and whatever

during a slushy, sleety rain because I know the farmer's market won't be setting up today. I found Roman tomatoes but they are commercial and not as tasty as I would like for making a bruscetta. I did find some other lovely veggies and have revamped my menu accordingly. I'll post it below. Thanks for your suggestion. :hi:

oohhh... ricotta-stuffed-olive-oil-zucchini-rolls




4 small zucchini
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar

For the ricotta filling:

ricotta cheese, about a cup
splash of lemon juice
basil leaves, about a handful
slivered almonds, about a handful

Notes:

This is one of those recipes where exact measurements simply do not matter. Consult the original recipe for a general idea of the ingredient proportions and adjust to your taste.
Cut off the stem end of the zucchini. Using a mandolin or a vegetable peeler, slice the zucchini lengthwise into 24 paper-thin strips.

Season with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. The zucchini strips will be more translucent and pliable after resting.
Mix the ricotta cheese with the lemon juice. Season with salt and mix vigorously until thoroughly incorporated.

Chiffonade the basil leaves. Add the basil and almonds to the ricotta mixture and mix until evenly distributed.

Place about 1 tablespoon of the ricotta filling on the cut end of the zucchini strips.
Roll up and sprinkle with pepper.

I have to be very careful about milk products because I have severe lactose intolerance. I can do goat cheese or Parmesan, but mozzarella and ricotta disagree with me violently and almost immediately. I'll take acidophilus beforehand to manage the ricotta in the cake, but I dare not have cheese early in the meal. Thanks for your research, Tesha! :hug:

sorry about the lactose problem - I used to have it too,
but suffer very rarely now. I very slowly started adding lactose back to my diet and I reduce my sensitivity quite a bit.

and the research? Mr Tesha will love these!

Even being half Italian. I keep it simple, usually, but this appears to be for a special occasion.

I usually do what the restaurants do and serve the salad and bread while everything else is coming together. Like I said, simple.

Good luck, yeller! :hi:

It is a special meal for some special folks who love to eat and I do want to make every bite memorable. My biggest score shopping last night was a bag of fresh tangerines which I will juice and use to make the Puccini cocktail: fresh tangerine juice and sparkling Italian wine.

a very memorable meal. I never trust tangerines any more. Even when they look good they taste terrible. Not the tangerines I remember from childhood at all. When I want that taste I remember now, I go to clementines. Much closer and much better, usually much more reliable than tangerines.

Let us know how it turns out and how you revamped your menu.

:hug:

and the meal was terrific by all accounts. The pairing of guests worked out wonderfully, all creative people in creative pursuits enjoying the food and each other's company. The tangerines turned out to be quite tasty, but not as sweet as the clementines I used to make marmalade the day before. They were very seedy though, and Mr. Pup said that he had removed enough seeds to start a tangerine orchard if I so desired. This is the final menu:

October 17, 2009
Glorious Fall!

Puccini Cocktails
Shrimp in Pistachio Sauce

Osso Bucco
Risotto Milanese
Steamed Asparagus

Cucumber Agrodolce

Pane Rustica

Cassata Siciliana


Montepulciano/Coffee/Frangelico

I love it when everyone has a wonderful time and hates to say goodnight. Thanks for asking, hippywife. Wish you could have been here! :hug: And thanks to everyone who helped me think the menu through and get it just right!

:toast: :toast:

What a lovely dinner and evening! Wish I could have been there, too. Congratulations on the perfect evening with food and friends. :hug:

so I could send some to my dear friend in that Bixby nursing home. She gave me a box of antique table linens that made the table so elegant. I also wanted to post the photos here....but once the guests began arriving, I never thought of taking pictures again.

to take pics. Especially when you are trying to pull off an elaborate meal and entertain at the same time. When my friends came Labor Day weekend, I asked Bill to be my photog, which he graciously did.

I bet your friend would enjoy a lovely card letting her know that her contribution to the meal made it that much more special.

She is precious and I keep in close touch with her. She had five sons and only one of them married (to me). Every family needs a girl when the folks get old. None of her sons asks about what shoes she will wear in the nursing home fashion show...

You know I drive by there twice a day. If you ever need anything dropped by there for her, just PM me and I would be happy to help you out, sweetie. :hug:

That perked up my ears, as a dealer/collector of estate linens.

Do tell.

I'll get back to you tomorrow on the linens. My friend is 90 years old and twelve of the fine linen napkins have crochet or tatting in the center (I am a total klutz at needlework - I have sewn for myself several times and nothing I've ever made from fabric looks or fits better than a Medieval serf's smock or a cafeteria worker's uniform) and embroidery which I will describe when I have it in front of me. This set of twelve napkins were in her mother's trousseau and are embroidered with her initials. I think they date to close to the turn of the last century. I could not bear to wipe my greasy mouth with one, but I will describe them better tomorrow or get a photo so you can see them. :hi:

I have twelve 17x17 linen napkins edged with tatting. The center of the embroidered panel has a square of tatting with a blossom in the center and scrolling cutwork embroidered in light blue all around the edges of the cuts. In white, her initials J.L.P. are embroidered above the square. These belonged to my former mother-in-law's mother (MIL is 90) who received them as a wedding gift when she (my ex-MIL's mom) married. I don't remember Mary's father's name (except Pierce) but he was one of the founders of Press Wireless, which he later reformed to make United Press International. To go with these napkins there is a large rectangular tablecloth with cutwork, embroidery, and tatting insets. She also gave me a smaller tablecloth in plain linen but with small cutwork rectangles that attach a plain linen border and six napkins that match. She also sent a couple of placemats in pink that look very 70's in a sheer fabric that can only have been used for perhaps tea service. If you can get a picture from my description I would enjoy hearing your feedback. Keep cooking, girl! My guests adored the shrimp in pistachio sauce so THANKS for the recipe! :hug:

don't either).

Sounds delish!

:hi:

but my system can't tolerate it. How I wish I could! :hi:

New menu:

Cocktails - Puccinis

Appetizer - Shrimp in Pistachio Sauce

Entree: Osso Bucco
Rissoto Milanese
Steamed Asparagus

Palate Readjustment: Baby Cucumbers in Sweet/Sour Marinade

Dessert: Cassata Siciliana

I'm all set now! Thanks, everyone!!! :hug: