The quintessential after work cocktail and nosh from an authentico Italian!
Daniele's Apertivo Board
Why it's on our list
Whitney first met her new Italian friend Daniele on a pretty unforgettable plane ride to Dallas back from NYC. To hear the whole story take a listen to Episode 29: Fireball, Fake ID's, and April Fools. The two discussed their shared love of cooking and by the end of the long flight plans were made for Daniele, his wife Lauren, and baby Sophia to come to The Wolder's for dinner. Whitney asked Daniele what they could cook together as an app and he suggested something that originated in his home town of Verona, an apertivo board. Aperitivo is a daily ritual when you go to your neighborhood bar and have a spritz or a glass of white wine before dinner. In non-tourist places the drink always comes with free "cicchetti" (small bites, sliced salame/prosciutto, bruschettine, etc). A lot of the times people do the same thing at home.
We made Daniele's simple yet delicious bruschetta (pronounced bru-sketta) but the standout snack was the illegal salami he recently smuggled in from Italy. Daniele's dad and his friends have been making this salami every year for the past 40 years!
Ingredients
1 ciabatta loaf
1 pound Campari tomatoes
1 bunch of basil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced in half
Good Italian extra Virgin olive oil
Aged Italian balsamic vinegar
Salt
Directions
Dice tomatoes and put in a strainer over a bowl. Lightly salt. Let set for 15 mins or as long as it takes you to assemble. This step is crucial as it removes all the excess water from the tomatoes and won't make your toast soggy
Set oven to broil
Slice the bread into quarter inch thick slices
Place slices on cookie sheet and put under broiler. Watch like a hawk until slightly toasted. Flip and toast the other side.
Chiffonade the basil
Drain the tomatoes and add the basil
On a wooden board, lay out the toasted bread
Take half of the garlic clove and gently rub each slice of bread with it
Spoon the tomato mixture onto the individual pieces
Douse with olive oil
Drizzle on the balsamic
Sprinkle on basil
Finish with salt
Buon appetito!
Serve it up!
What would be on your apertivo board? Send us a note!