13 antipasto recipes

Antipasto pasta salad with rotini, roasted red peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, Muenster cheese, mushrooms, red onion, and fresh basil in a low-fat Italian dressing. A cold make-ahead side for potlucks and picnics.

Microwave antipasto with tuna, olives, peppers, mushrooms, and carrots in a tangy tomato-ketchup sauce. Make-ahead appetizer that keeps for two weeks in the fridge.

Antipasto pasta salad with salami, provolone, garbanzo beans, olives, and mushrooms in a lemon-garlic-basil dressing. A make-ahead party dish that gets better as it chills.

Browned smoked turkey sausage over a bed of romaine with tomatoes, cucumber, cauliflower, olives, and crumbled feta, drizzled with Italian dressing. A hearty 15-minute salad.

This salad is pretty hardy, but to turn it into a main dish salad, just add pasta shells, bows, or tortellini.

Refrigerator pickled mushrooms: button caps simmered to firmness then jarred in a sweet-tart vinegar marinade with peppercorns and bay leaves. Eastern European style for canapes, salads, and antipasto.

Melanzane in carrozza: breaded Italian eggplant sandwiches stuffed with mozzarella, anchovy, and basil, then fried golden. A Southern Italian antipasto, crisp outside, molten in the middle.

Marinated mushroom salad with vinegar-poached mushrooms, blanched carrots, celery, and bell peppers dressed in oregano olive oil. A make-ahead antipasto-style cold salad.

Sicilian eggplant caponata, a sweet-and-sour relish of roasted eggplant, onion, celery, tomato, capers, and raisins. Vegetarian, low-fat, and a classic Mediterranean antipasto.

Italian roasted peppers preserved in extra-virgin olive oil with white wine vinegar. Red, yellow, and green peppers layered in a jar for an antipasto staple and sandwich filling.

Giardiniera, the classic Italian pickled vegetable jar packed with carrots, celery, bell peppers, cauliflower, and pearl onions in a sweet-spiced vinegar brine. Sandwich topper, antipasto staple, condiment for everything.

Italian mushroom piccante with sliced white mushrooms simmered in tomato, basil, parsley, capers, and a tangy white wine vinegar finish. A versatile antipasto served hot or at room temperature.

Calzoni di ricotta are Italian fried half-moon turnovers stuffed with creamy ricotta, diced ham, and provolone, sealed in a lemon-kissed dough and fried golden. A crisp shell, molten cheese center, perfect antipasto or quick lunch.