Starters are the beginning of every important lunch meal. It is usually in tune with other dishes, then fish for a lunch made of fish, or cured meats and cheeses for those of meat.
In short, there are appetizers for every taste and every type of lunch, both hot and cold. They can be croutons or canapés accompanied by cheeses and cured meats, but also from olives and vegetables in oil or pickle.
Below you will find many ideas for a starter, an aperitif or a cold buffet. So many small recipes to prepare to make your starter complete. However, every recipe alone is not enough. Usually two or more preparations are brought to the table, accompanied by cured meats or cheeses or vegetables prepared in various ways.
The classic Tuscan appetizer
The classic Tuscan appetizer is normally composed of two or three types of croutons, both hot and cold, sliced meats, cheeses of various types and vegetables in oil or vinegar.
The croutons that are most prepared are the black croutons, with chicken livers, croutons with tomatoes and croutons with mushrooms. The recipe for black croutons can be found in the article on the typical dishes of Pistoia.
Croutons with tomatoes
Necessary for croutons with tomatoes
- 4 slices of Tuscan bread (no salt)
- 4 ripe tomatoes
- salt pepper and olive oil just enough
- 8 basil leaves
Preparing croutons with tomatoes
Prepare the tomatoes, cutting them into small pieces. Season with olive oil and season with olive oil. Mix well. If possible, prepare the tomatoes at least two hours in the fridge and put in the refrigerator, because the tomatoes will release water that will then serve to wet the bread better.
Lightly toast the bread in the oven or in a toaster.
Once the bread is roasted, cut the slices of bread in two and pass over a clove of garlic to which we will have removed the peel.
Now place the tomato mixture on each slice, put them in a serving dish and garnish with the basil leaves on each slice.
Croutons with mushrooms
Required for croutons with mushrooms
- 4 slices of Tuscan bread (no salt)
- 250 grams of porcini mushrooms
- 2 garlic clove
- salt, pepper and olive oil as required
- finely chopped parsley
Preparing croutons with mushrooms
Clean the mushrooms very well by removing the ground. Once cleaned, cut the mushrooms into thin slices.
In a frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, cook the garlic that you have crushed with a fork until it is golden brown. Add the mushrooms and turn them often cook about ten minutes. Adjust the salt and pepper and add the chopped parsley.
Meanwhile, toast the slices of bread in the oven or in a toaster until golden brown. Place the garlic on the surface of the bread and put a tablespoon of mushrooms on top of the crouton. Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley and bring to the table.
Sea appetizers
Here too there are plenty of appetizer recipes with fish, from classic shrimp cocktails, croutons with salmon, sea salad, tuna canapés.
Shrimp cocktails
Necessary for shrimp cocktail
- 250 grams of shelled shrimp
- two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
- 50 grams of ketchup
- 70 grams mayonnaise
- 4 broad leafy leaves like lettuce
- 10 grams of butter
- salt, pepper just enough
Preparing the shrimp cocktail
Wash, remove the head and clean the shrimp by removing all the shell.
Cook them in plenty of water for 3 or 4 minutes. At this point in a pan where you have melted the butter put the shrimp to cook for 3 minutes. Put the salt in the pepper and let them cool.
Let’s make the sauce in the meantime. Put the ketchup, mayonnaise and two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce in a bowl and mix well until smooth.
Add the prawns to the sauce and mix well.
In the containers you have chosen to put the shrimp cocktail (they can be small glass bowls, or cocktail glasses or even fruit saucers) place the salad leaf and put on top the mixture of sauce and shrimp. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving, garnish with a small slice of lemon.
Salmon croutons
Required for salmon croutons
- 1 baguette
- 120 grams of sliced smoked salmon
- 50 grams of butter at room temperature
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 lemon
Preparation of salmon croutons
Cut the baguette into slices about two centimeters thick and toast them in the oven or toaster. Meanwhile, knead the butter with a spoon until creamy. Spread the butter over the bread and add a slice of salmon. Garnish with a pinch of chopped parsley and the lemon slice.
A tasty variation for salmon croutons is to replace butter with spreadable cheese.
Sea salad
Sea salad required
- 1 small octopus
- 500 grams of mussels
- 500 grams of clams
- olive oil
- pepper salt just enough
- chopped parsley
- 1 garlic
- 1 lemon
Preparing sea salad
Cook the octopus about an hour in plenty of salted water.
Put the clams and mussels in a covered pot and cook for about 5 minutes or until the shellfish valves are all open. Remove the shells and set aside the shells.
Cut the octopus into small pieces and add it to the shellfish. 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 and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving garnished with a slice of lemon.
Tuna tartines
Required for tuna canapés
- 1 baguette
- 250 grams of canned natural tuna
- 3 pickled gherkins
- 100 grams of spreadable cheese
- olive oil just enough
- a few basil leaves
Preparation of tuna canapés
Cut the baguette into 2cm slices and toast them in the oven or toaster. Prepare a cream by mixing the tuna with the pickled gherkins, spreadable cheese and two tablespoons of olive oil. Spread the mixture on slices of toast. Garnish the canapés with a basil leaf and serve on the table.
If we talk about appetizers we certainly can not not consider canafe. They are crustless toast bread canapés that are usually roasted in the oven or toaster and supplemented with various sauces and vegetables or spreadable cheeses.
Their main characteristic in addition to taste is the beauty of their compositions. The bread is cut into rectangles, triangles, rounds and combined also according to the colors of the sauces and finishes.
Here are some recipes that you can combine together to form a tray of really tasty and delicious appetizers.
Round canaches
Needed for round canaps
- 12 slices of toast bread
- grams 10 grams of butter at room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 10 grams of mayonnaise
- a few parsley leaves
- salt and pepper just enough
Preparing round canatables
With a glass get round shapes from slices of toast bread. Toast them in the oven or in the toaster. Meanwhile, cook the eggs in boiling water until they are known. Allow to cool, remove the shell and divide the yolk from the egg white. In this preparation only the egg whites are used, but leave aside the yolks for another type of canaper.
Egg whites should be passed in a colander to crumble as much as possible. Salt and pepper the mixture. Meanwhile, butter the toasted bread washers and pass over even a veil of mayonnaise. Put the crumbled egg on the tartine and garnish with a parsley leaf.
- 6 slices of toast bread
- mayonnaise and anchovy paste just enough
- butter at room temperature just enough
- 2 eggs
Cut the slice of toast bread into two parts and toast in the oven or toaster after removing the crust.
Cook the eggs in boiling water to make them hard. Peel and divide the egg yolks from the egg white.
Pass both the yolk and egg white into a thick colander to make them crumble, put salt and pepper.
Prepare a sauce by mixing the mayonnaise and anchovy paste until well combined.
Ideally divide the canato into 3 equal parts. In the first part put the crumbled egg yolk. in the central part put the anchovy paste sauce and in the side the crumbled egg white.
Garnish with a very small slice of lemon in the middle.
Required for triangular canapers
- 6 slices of toast bread
- butter and mayonnaise just enough
- salt and pepper just enough
- 2 date tomatoes
Remove the crust from the toast and cut it into two parts to obtain two triangles. Toast 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 canaper. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with a basil leaf.
