Anyone Can Make a Good Antipasto

Anyone can make a good antipasto. You don’t even have to know how to cook. Just visit a pork store.

When I moved to Long Island, I had no idea what a pork store was, pork not being a major part of my diet. But they are in every town and village and Long Islanders can’t live without them.

An Italian pork store (there are also German, Greek, and others, although more rare) is an Italian butcher, grocery store, and deli, selling meats and cheeses and the foods of Italy. In the past, there were butchers in Italian neighborhoods making their own sausages and selling fresh meat – mostly pork, I guess. As Italians moved out from Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, pork stores popped up on Long Island (and in New Jersey and Connecticut). While there is still a butcher and a case with cuts of meat and homemade sausages, over time they evolved to sell other products as well: cold cuts, fresh pasta, bread, cheese, sandwiches, and all sorts of jars and cans of products imported from Italy. Now it seems most of their business is selling prepared Italian foods that customers can heat up at home for dinner. And a pork store is a great place to visit if you want to serve antipasto.

What’s nice about the perfect antipasto plate is that you don’t need to cook anything. While you certainly can prepare items for an antipasto platter, all you really need to do is shop, and arrange selections on a plate. If there is no pork store near you, try a good supermarket, as they will likely have enough selections between the deli, cheese section, olive bar, and canned and preserved goods in the international aisle to make a perfectly respectable antipasto. And Trader Joe’s has a lot of very good options.

In my opinion, a good antipasto platter should include a variety of items from several different categories. There should be cheeses, preserved meats, and some form of pickles, perhaps olives or artichokes or brine-packed vegetables. Some veggies – fresh or grilled – are essential. Bread – toasted or not – with toppings like bruschetta or spreads and dips, makes a fine addition. You can add fancier foods like baked stuffed clams or anchovies or shrimp cooked in olive oil and garlic. And a fried item or two – calamari, zucchini, or mushrooms, perhaps – wouldn’t be at all out of place. They sell all these foods at a pork store.

Next time you’re having a gathering of friends, visit a pork store and select one or two foods from each category. When you create a big antipasto platter, there will be something for everyone – even vegetarians, vegans, and those who are gluten free – and all will be happy.

Antipasto

Here is a list of items I pick from when assembling an antipasto platter. Of course the list is endless; there are lots of other foods that could fit into each category. Use your imagination and your guests will be impressed.

Cured meats: hot or sweet sopressata, thinly sliced capicola or prosciutto, genoa salami or pepperoni, or any other type of salumi or preserved meat

Cheeses: rough chunks of good Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino-Romano, provolone, ricotta salata, fresh mozzarella (sliced or marinated bocconcini [balls]), burrata (fresh mozzarella stuffed with cream)

Grilled vegetables: zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, asparagus, onions, red pepper

Fresh vegetables: anything that is fresh and delicious

Pickled vegetables: olives, artichokes, caper berries, pepperoncini, roasted red peppers, cherry peppers stuffed with breadcrumbs or prosciutto and provolone, marinated mushrooms, giardiniera (vegetables in vinegar or olive oil)

Fresh fruit: figs, grapes, berries, cantaloupe wrapped in proscuitto

Bread: crostini, garlic bread, fresh bread, focaccia, grissini (bread sticks)

Spreads: bruschetta, caponata (cooked eggplant spread), fig jam, pesto

Hot foods: shrimp in olive oil and garlic, sautéed or stuffed artichokes, baked stuffed clams, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, sautéed broccoli rabe, meatballs, bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with Manchego cheese

Fried foods: calamari, shrimp, zucchini, mushrooms, artichokes, mozzarella

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