Â鶹APP

A Quick Guide to Italian Appetizers

The most important part of any Italian dining experience is the start, the middle, and the ending. Italians take meal times very seriously; food is seen as an opportunity for connection and celebration, not just an excuse to stuff one’s face.

These are just a few of the hundreds of appetizers that this cuisine embraces. Authentic Italian appetizers vary depending on region and availability of ingredients.

For the top 10 most popular Italian foods, click here!

Chopped Italian Salad

This appetizer is left to the creative agency of the maker. It’s really a salad that is adaptable to whatever fresh produce happens to be in the fridge, though traditionally it features romaine lettuce, red onion, provolone cheese cubes, chickpeas, and a salty meat of your choosing (usually bacon strips or salami rounds).

A chopped Italian salad is dressed with a mixture of olive oil, mustard, garlic, oregano and vinegar. It’s a sour and salty salad that is spiced with fresh pepperoncini.

Caponata

I find Caponata to be one of the heartiest Italian appetizers on offer. A serving of this alongside a thick slice of bread is as good as a main meal for me.

Caponata originated in Sicily in the 18th century, but is now most popular in districts throughout southern Italy. The dish makes use of the seasonal harvest of egg plants and tomatoes, and there are over 30 recipe variants to work from.

by Joanbanjo –

I like my Caponata with green olives, capers, celery, friggitello peppers and onions.

Crostini

A crostini is an easy go-to when in need of an authentic Italian appetizer. There are an infinite number of ways one can serve a crostini starter.

Crostini’s are slices of fresh bread, usually grilled and topped with any number of ingredients. Meats, cheeses, veggies and even fruits can be used to make crostini; olive oil and a herb of some sort (usually basil) are always a must.

by Paul Hanaoka –

Pizzette

Every daydreamed of a miniature pizza shaped perfectly to the human mouth? Pizzettes have been a part of Italian appetizers for centuries, they just rarely feature on the menu’s of modern restaurants.

A pizzette is a bite-sized pizza containing all the necessary toppings, sauces and cheeses to make it palatable to Italian pizza standards. They make fantastic meals for children, or canapés at events/weddings.

Arancini

If you’re ever blessed with a menu that reads ‘arancini’ on the appetizer list — order them!

Arancini are balls of deep fried rice. The center is filled with anything from tomato and garlic, to mozzarella, to meats. This is a traditional Sicilian recipe with many different avenues of preparation.

Arancini is usually served with a dipping sauce of some sort. It’s usually a bit of Napoletana pasta sauce, but basil pesto is a common variant as well.

by chomjong –

Polpette

A lot of people are shocked when they arrive in Italy only to find that spaghetti and meatballs are nowhere to be found. This is an American dish; Italians never claimed to be the inventors.

Instead, Italians eat Polpette as an appetizer. These are basic balls of meat either made from beef, veal or pork. They are seasoned with olive oil, garlic, onions and occasionally Parmigiano Reggiano, and then fried.

Polpette are served as is; no spaghetti, no sauce, niente!

Bruschetta

Most who are familiar with the Italian cuisine will have encountered a bruschetta or two in their lifetime.

Bruschetta and crostini are very similar dishes, and both qualify as appetizers. Bruschetta is made by slicing bread and roasting it over heat until crisp. The bread is then rubbed with garlic and olive oil before being topped with tomatoes, beans, cured meats, or cheeses.

by Margarita Zueva –

The difference between crostini and bruschetta is the size of the breads. Crostini is made from smaller bread slices, usually a baguette or thin ciabatta, while bruschetta is made from much wider cuts.

Caprese

Nothing says summer in Italy quite like a well made Caprese salad. This is a classic dish in the Neapolitan cuisine, and you’ll find it on just about every restaurant menu in the south of Italy.

A Caprese salad is a simple arrangement of freshly sliced tomato and mozzarella. The salad is garnished with basil, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt & white pepper.

It is believed that this dish originated on the island of Capri, which attributes to the name of the salad to this day.

by paPisc

Fritto Misto

A Fritto Misto is a wonderful appetizer as it gives you a full bodied seafood experience before you’ve even ordered your main meal.

A traditional Fritto Misto is a small plate of different types of deep fried seafood. It differs from region to region in Italy, depending on what fresh catches are able to get to the destination in question.

One can generally expect a Fritto Misto to contain shrimp, squid and an array of crustaceans & mollusks. Anchovies, sardines and baby mackerel tend to also make an appearance.

In northern Italy, some areas throw vegetables into their Fritto Misto, as well as the occasional veal brain.

For more on the cuisine of Northern Italy, click here!

Focaccia

The pizza before the pizza, as uncultured foreigners like to refer to it. Focaccia is a cheese and sauceless piece of dough that is served as an appetizer or table bread in most parts of Italy.

A focaccia is usually much thicker than regular pizza, and can be topped with olive oil, salt, garlic, rosemary, oregano, onions and even olives. Some people enjoy ordering a side portion of plain Napoletana sauce in which to dip their slice.

by Amber Engle –