Starters are the start of any important meal. It is usually in tune with the other dishes, so fish for a fish-based lunch, or cold meats and cheeses for meat-based ones.
In short, there are appetisers for every taste and every type of lunch, both hot and cold. They can be crostini or canapés accompanied by cheeses and cold meats, but also olives and pickled or pickled vegetables.
Below you will find many ideas for an appetiser, aperitif or cold buffet. Many small recipes to prepare to make your starter complete. However, each recipe alone is not enough. Usually two or more preparations are brought to the table, accompanied by cold meats or cheeses or vegetables prepared in various ways.
The classic Tuscan antipasto
The classic Tuscan hors d'oeuvre is normally composed of two or three types of crostini, either hot or cold, sliced cold meats, various types of cheese and vegetables in oil or vinegar.
The crostini most commonly prepared are black crostini, with chicken livers, crostini with tomatoes and crostini with mushrooms. The recipe for black crostini can be found in the article on typical Pistoia dishes.
Crostini with tomatoes
Needed for crostini with tomatoes
4 slices of Tuscan bread (without salt)
4 ripe tomatoes
salt pepper and olive oil to taste
8 basil leaves
Preparing the crostini with tomatoes
Prepare the tomatoes by cutting them into small pieces. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Mix well. If possible, prepare the tomatoes at least two hours in advance and place in the fridge, as the tomatoes will release water which will then be used to better moisten the bread.
Lightly toast the bread in the oven or in a toaster. Once the bread is toasted, cut the slices of bread in two and pass over a clove of garlic from which we have removed the peel.
Now put the tomato mixture on each slice, place them on a serving plate and garnish with basil leaves on each slice.
Croutons with mushrooms
Needed for the crostini with mushrooms
4 slices of Tuscan bread (without salt)
250 grams of porcini mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic
salt, pepper and olive oil to taste
finely chopped parsley
Preparation of crostini with mushrooms
Clean the mushrooms very well by removing the earth. Once cleaned, cut the mushrooms into thin slices.
In a frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, cook the garlic, which you have crushed with a fork, until it is golden. Add the mushrooms and cook for about ten minutes, turning often. Adjust the salt and pepper and add the chopped parsley.
Meanwhile, toast the bread slices in the oven or in a toaster until golden brown. Rub the garlic on the surface of the bread and place a spoonful of mushrooms on top of the toast. Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley and bring to the table.
Seafood starters
Here too there are plenty of recipes for fish starters, from the classic shrimp cocktail, to salmon croutons, seafood salad and tuna canapés.
Shrimp cocktail
What you need for the shrimp cocktail
250 grams of peeled shrimps
two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
50 grams of ketchup
70 grams of mayonnaise
4 large-leaf lettuce leaves
grams 10 of butter
salt, pepper to taste
Preparing the shrimp cocktail
Wash, remove the heads and clean the shrimps by removing the entire shell.
Cook them in plenty of water for 3 to 4 minutes. Now in a frying pan in which you have melted the butter, put the shrimps to cook for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper and leave them to cool.
Meanwhile prepare the sauce. Put the ketchup, mayonnaise and the two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce in a bowl and mix well until smooth. Add the shrimps to the sauce and mix well.
In the containers you have chosen to put the shrimp cocktail (these can be small glass bowls, cocktail glasses or even fruit plates) place the salad leaf and put the sauce and shrimp mixture on top. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving, garnish with a small lemon slice.
Salmon croutons
Ingredients for the salmon croutons
1 baguette
120 grams of sliced smoked salmon
50 grams of butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 lemon
Preparing the salmon croutons
Cut the baguette into slices about two centimetres thick and toast them in the oven or toaster. Meanwhile, work the butter with a spoon until it becomes creamy. Spread the butter on top of the bread and add a slice of salmon. Garnish with a pinch of chopped parsley and a slice of lemon.
A tasty variation for salmon croutons is to replace the butter with spreadable cheese.
Seafood Salad
What you need for the seafood salad
1 small octopus
grams 500 of mussels
500 grams of clams
olive oil
salt pepper to taste
chopped parsley
1 garlic
1 lemon
Preparation of the seafood salad
Cook the octopus about an hour in plenty of salted water.
Place the clams and mussels in a covered pot and cook for about 5 minutes or until the shells of the molluscs are all open. Remove the shells and set the mussels aside.
Cut the octopus into small pieces and add it to the molluscs. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the juice of 1 lemon and a teaspoon of chopped parsley. Finely chop the garlic and add it to the rest. Mix everything together and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving garnished with a lemon slice.
Tuna canapés
Ingredients for tuna canapés
1 baguette
250 grams canned natural tuna
3 pickled gherkins
grams 100 of spreadable cheese
enough olive oil
a few basil leaves
Preparing the tuna canapés
Cut the baguette into slices of about 2 centimetres and toast them in the oven or in a toaster. Prepare a cream by mixing the tuna with the pickled gherkins, spreadable cheese and the two tablespoons of olive oil. Spread the mixture on the toasted bread slices. Garnish the canapés with a basil leaf and serve at the table.
If we talk about appetisers, we certainly cannot overlook canapés. These are canapés made of crustless toast that are usually toasted in the oven or in the toaster and topped with various sauces and vegetables or spreadable cheeses.
Their main characteristic besides taste is the beauty of their composition. The bread is cut into rectangles, triangles, rounds and also matched together according to the colours of the sauces and trimmings.
Here are some recipes that can be combined together to form a truly tasty and delicious tray of appetisers.
Round canapés
Needed for the round canapés
12 slices of toast
10 g butter at room temperature
2 eggs
grams 10 of mayonnaise
a few parsley leaves
salt and pepper to taste
Preparing the round canapés
Using a glass, make round shapes from the slices of toast. Toast them in the oven or in the toaster. Meanwhile, cook the eggs in boiling water until soft. Let them cool, remove the shell and separate the yolk from the white. Only the egg whites are used in this preparation, but leave the yolks aside for another type of canapé.
The egg whites should be strained in a colander to crumble them as much as possible. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. In the meantime, butter the toasted bread rounds and spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on top. On the canapé place the crumbled egg and garnish with a parsley leaf.
Rectangular canapés
Ingredients for the rectangular canapés
6 slices of toast
enough mayonnaise and anchovy paste
enough butter at room temperature
2 eggs
Preparation of the rectangular canapés
Cut the slice of toast in half and toast it in the oven or in the toaster after removing the crust. Cook the eggs in boiling water to harden them. Shell them and separate the yolks from the whites.
Pass both the yolk and the white through a rather thick sieve to make them crumble, and add salt and pepper. Prepare a sauce by mixing the mayonnaise and anchovy paste until well blended.
Ideally divide the canapé into 3 equal parts. In the first part put the crumbled egg yolk. In the middle part put the anchovy paste sauce and in the side part the crumbled egg white.
Garnish with a very small slice of lemon in the middle part.
Triangular canapés
Needed for the triangular canapés
6 slices of toast
butter and mayonnaise to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2 cherry tomatoes
Preparation of the triangular canapés
Remove the crust from the toast and cut it into two parts to make two triangles. Toast them in the oven or in the toaster. Spread the butter (kept at room temperature) on the bread and also the mayonnaise. Place a round slice of tomato on top of the canapé. Adjust salt and pepper and garnish with a basil leaf.
