Perfecting The Antipasto Platter
WORDS:: Chyka Keebaugh
PHOTOS:: Lisa Atkinson
Pulling together a delicious looking platter is a quick trick everyone should have up their sleeve.
An antipasto platter is the perfect solution for unexpected guests, a grazing lunch or lazy dinner in front of the TV. Most of the ingredients are fridge staples and it always makes me feel very European grabbing a great wooden platter and just layering it with food!
What I love the most is - no matter what your tastes are, antipasto platters can be created to cater to all. Take this item off your menu, add this in, cut some bread, decant some dips - the possibilities are endless. As long as you have a great platter and a few small bowls, you can't go wrong. Getting creative with ingredients is not a problem - sometimes just plating up what is in the fridge can create a funky platter in itself. So let’s take one board and one set of ingredients and style it different ways to show you what you can do - keeping it casual but making it look gorgeous.
Styling your platter::
- Depending on your style is how your antipasto should look.
- Put ingredients in all glass jars.
- Using fresh basil as a garnish but so guests can break off too and eat with the tomato etc.
- Be generous with your serving as an antipasto board need to look full and inviting.
- Make sure you have crackers, lavosh or bread as a filler & dipper.
- There is no such thing as the wrong thing to have on your board.
Staples I always have are goats cheese, olives, a selection of dips, sun-dried tomatoes, grissini sticks, fresh tomatoes and avocado and fresh basil. Make sure your selection visually looks great and that here are lots of great flavours to eat. Keep your fridge stocked for those ‘just in case‘ moments and prepare to wow your guests!