Sweet Love and Ginger

appetizer

Italian Style Cheese Plate

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Now if you have spent any time with me you would quickly learn that there are certain things I absolutely love. Some of those things include wine, cheese, olives, and bread. One could imagine my excitement when I dug into my first Italian style cheese plate. I knew before visiting that Italians loved their mozzarella, but I had no idea that they really truly appreciated a wide range of fine cheeses quite as much as they did. I saw an incredible amount of amazing cheese plates fly by me in restaurants and every time just their whizzing image was enough to make my mouth water.

Now if you have spent any time with me you would quickly learn that there are certain things I absolutely love. Some of those things include wine, cheese, olives, and bread. One could imagine my excitement when I dug into my first Italian style cheese plate. I knew before visiting that Italians loved their mozzarella, but I had no idea that they really truly appreciated a wide range of fine cheeses quite as much as they did. I saw an incredible amount of amazing cheese plates fly by me in restaurants and every time just their whizzing image was enough to make my mouth water.

An antipaste plate served to us during our wine tour in Tuscanny

The typical “rules” (I use this term loosely, because I never follow them) for a cheese plate are that it should contain a variety of cheeses with different consistencies, some crusty bread or crackers, something crunchy, such as nuts or pickles, and something sweet such as fruit, dried fruit, a sweet spread or honey. Seems simple enough right? Well, let me tell you, the Italians make it even simpler, while casually tossing in an appetizing array of cured meats. But, of course, they do.

Homemade Italian style Cheese Plate

A typical afternoon snack at our apartment in Rome

Most of the cheese trays that I saw contained only 2 to 3 types of cheese including a mozzarella (sometimes a smoked mozzarella, which is my personal favorite or a combination of the two), a gorgonzola, and a pecorino. Next, there were a similar number of meats, which were typically salami, prosciutto, and bologna. To accompany the plate there was typically some good crusty bread, or toast, and almost always a few olives, or an olive tapenade.

This combination of flavors is simple and rustic, much like the majority of the delicious Italian meals that we had throughout our trip. I think that the simplicity of this type of cheese plate, as well as its flavor combination, is one of my favorites. It’s definitely something that we will be trying out more often now that we are back in the states.

Fig & Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula

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Fig & Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula

You might have noticed over time that I often try to mimic my favorite restaurant dishes at home. If it’s something I really love like Linguine with Clam Sauce, or Penne con Fionchietto why not learn to make it at home so I can have it more often and spend less money? At least that’s been my thought process.

This pizza is one of those recipes. We have had a version of it at a number of restaurants and it continues to be a favorite of both chuck and I. A simple but flavorful dough is definitely key, since the rest of the ingredients are fairly subtle. This has been my favorite pizza dough recipe for a while.

Fig & Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula

The real stars of this dish are quite obviously the figs and prosciutto; though I personally think the reduced balsamic is the thing that really brings it all together. Then again I may or may not have a slight love affair with the stuff. I also think the arugula is necessary to add some freshness, and a peppery bite to an otherwise salty-sweet dish.

Fig & Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula

Fig & Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: Serves 4
Ingredients
  • 1 pre-made pizza dough
  • 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 8 ounces fresh grated mozzarella
  • ½ cup balsamic vinegar
  • ½ cup figs (about 12 California figs, halved or 6 mission black figs sliced)
  • 2 ounces prosciutto, hand shredded into strips
  • ½ cup arugula
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Roll out the pizza dough on a prepared pizza stone or baking sheet. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic. Spread the mozzarella on top of the pizza and place in the oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
  3. While the pizza cooks place the balsamic in a small pan over medium high heat. Allow it to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. The liquid should have reduced by half and become syrupy. Remove from heat, and set aside.
  4. The crust should have begun to brown and the cheese melted. Scatter the top with figs and prosciutto and place in the oven for another 2 to 3 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat and let stand for 2 minutes. Scatter the arugula on top and drizzle with balsamic.
  6. Serve immediately.

 

Balsamic Roast Veggie Toasts with Gruyere

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This is a recipe for Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Toasts, a simple appetizer that does double duty as a great vegetarian meal.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Toasts

Winter is a time of soups, stews, roasts and sweets. Savory and filling are the stars this time of year, but it’s always this time of year that I want to bring a little freshness into my life. Things like lemon, balsamic vinegar and winter fruits are defiantly requirements in my house. They add a hint of brightness, complexity and freshness that so many meals this time of year are lacking.

This recipe is pretty adaptable in that it can easily be made into a sandwich, and eaten as a main dish or when cut to size it makes a wonderful appetizer to accompany most winter meals.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

I love the way that the sweet balsamic melds with the stringy, salty gruyere. Using different vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, red pepper, onion or even roasted garlic only adds to the complexity of flavor and texture. I think this dish is so simple that it takes dinner party guests by surprise with its addictive flavor.

It’s also a good way to get young ones to eat their vegetables.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Toasts

Balsamic Roast Veggie Toasts
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 16 Servings
Ingredients
  • 8 oz broccoli florets
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced thick
  • 1 small red onion, quartered
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (plus 1 tablespoon)
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 8 slices sourdough bread, halved (or quartered depending on preference)
  • 12 oz shredded soft gruyere cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425F.
  2. Spread the veggies out on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic, salt pepper and toss well to coat. Place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the veggies have softened and begun to caramelize, tossing once halfway through. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. On a separate baking sheet spread the bread slices out and lightly brush with olive oil and place in the oven until crisp and golden, about 22 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
  4. After the bread has rested carefully divide the veggies up evenly on each toast. Top with cheese and place back in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
  5. Serve immediately.

Similar Recipes:

Pear & Brie Toasts

Pear & Brie Toasts

Engagement Tart

Engagement Tart

4-Cheese-Red-Pepper-Dip

4 Cheese Red Pepper Dip

Honey Chili Veggie Pizza with Lemon

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This is a recipe for a vegan Honey Chili Veggie Pizza with Lemon that can easily be made vegan and makes for a great appetizer.

Honey Chili Veggie Pizza

Honey Chili Veggie Pizza

Before we dive into today’s recipe I want to take a moment to mention Food Blogger Pro, a website dedicated to helping food bloggers learn, grow, & monetize your blog. Membership enrollment will close on November 19th, and not be available again until spring 2016, with total membership being capped at 2,000 members! Don’t wait join now before you miss out.

Now on to this cheese-less sauce-less pizza.

This is an interesting one. I came up with it on a whim as I was trying to come up with new and interesting appetizer’s that are dairy free. Why dairy free you ask? Because one of our close friends has an allergy. I always make it a point to bring something that she can have, because that’s what good friends do, plus it gives me an excuse to flex my creative cooking muscles. As it turned out this pizza is actually vegan and makes a great appetizer!

Honey Chili Veggie Pizza

This pizza came together quite easily and I was pleased with the results, as was the rest of the crowd. I actually got the idea from another Blue Apron Recipe. My favorite part of that recipe was the honey chili and I thought that the cheese kind of took away from that, because well cheese is delicious and tends to steal the show. So in remaking this recipe I decided to go cheese less and on that same note I went sauce less too, using sliced whole tomatoes instead. I think this made the whole thing a lot fresher.

All in all I think this is a great summer/early fall recipe, since it’s light and fresh and would go wonderfully with a nice chilled glass of sauvignon blanc. Now picture that on your back patio? Good scene right?

Honey Chili Veggie Pizza

For the pizza dough you can use a pre-made store bought version or make your own. I really like this recipe and use it for pretty much all my pizzas. To make it vegan swap out the honey for maple syrup or agave.

Honey Chili Veggie Pizza
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: Serves 6
Ingredients
  • 1 lb plain pizza dough recipe
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus more)
  • 3-4 gloves of garlic, minced
  • 8 ounces baby spinach, chopped
  • 1 tomato sliced thin
  • ¼ red onion, sliced thing
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • ¼ teaspoon cracked red pepperflakes
  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
  2. Lay the pizza out on a rimmed baking pan or pizza stone.
  3. In a large skillet heat oil and garlic over medium high heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until the garlic begins to brown and become fragrant. Remove from heat and use a brush to gently spread the garlic oil over the pizza dough until it is coated in a thin glossy layer.
  4. Add more oil to the pan if needed and return to heat. Stir in the spinach and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until wilted. Remove from heat and set aside. Once cooled slightly use a strainer to press down the spinach and remove as much of the liquid as possible.
  5. Arrange the sliced tomato and onions on the pizza dough. Sprinkle with lemon zest. Spread the spinach over the top of the pizza.
  6. Place the pizza in the oven and cook for 18 minutes, or until the outer crust begins to brown.
  7. While the pizza cooks combine the honey, cracked red pepper and chili powder.
  8. Once browned remove the pizza from the oven and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Drizzle with honey chili combination and sprits with as much lemon juice as desired.
  9. Cut into slices and serve Immediately.

What are some of your favorite pizza toppings?