What Was For Dinner - Mediterranean Feast

NOTE: I originally intended to publish this article the night of Memorial Day or the morning after. However, Gather glitches prevented me from uploading the images in a timely fashion, and I've been in Florida for work until last night with no Internet access. So here's my Memorial Day article, a little late...

Memorial Day - check.
Family gathering - check. (My father and stepmother coming over for dinner).
Backyard barbecue - um, are you going to report me to Homeland Security if the answer's no?

I'll admit, I love to grill as much as the next man. However, I recently bought a copy of "How To Eat Supper," the weeknight-recipe cookbook by the hosts of NPR's "The Splendid Table," and I knew I wanted to make something out of it for a dinner party. Having found a recipe I liked (Provençal Tuna Salad), I needed accompaniments and appetizers. The solution - a full-on Mediterranean-style antipasto spread.

For anyone not familiar with the idea, antipasto is the first or appetizer course (it literally means "before the meal") in Italian cooking, and has much in common with Spanish tapas; antipasti are typically small plates that can be eaten individually as a prelude to a main course, or in combination to make a meal.  Antipasti are most often composed of fresh ingredients, either uncooked or lightly grilled or sauteed vegetables and small amounts of meat- typically smoked or cured- or fish.

I quickly found that there were four themes running through the dishes I wanted to make - garlic, olives, fresh herbs and balsamic vinegar. Fortunately I had all these things on hand. With a bit of selective shopping, the menu for tonight emerged as:

- Hummus with roasted garlic
- Kalamata-olive tapenade
- Prosciutto rollups with Parmesan sprinkles
- Caprese salad (basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes)
- Roasted red peppers in olive oil and garlic
- Marinated artichoke hearts
- Provençal Tuna Salad over fresh lettuce
- Ciabatta bread

The only items in this list not made from scratch were the hummus and ciabatta, which I bought, and the prosciutto (Wilbur isn't near fat enough for slaughtering yet, and some damn spider keeps writing messages in webs above the pen...)

Here's what the spread looked like when company arrived (note: the tuna salad Provencal is not in the picture - that was put together last and didn't make it on the table till dinnertime).

I'd post an "after" picture as well, but seasoned war photographers have been known to recoil from scenes of carnage like that table.

Anyway, here is how to make the "from scratch" portions of the evening meal.



Kalamata olive tapenade

2 good handfuls (about 1 cup) pitted Kalamata olives
2-3 cloves garlic, depending on size  
1 Tbsp. (approx.) extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. (approx.) tomato paste
1 tsp. (approx.) balsamic vinegar
Pinch each: dried basil, dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Add all ingredients except oil and pepper to a food chopper or processor and pulse for about a minute, or until roughly chopped. Add olive oil and continue pulsing until a mostly smooth paste is formed (you want some chunkiness to it, but it should be spreadable). Taste for flavor balance, adjust, and add black pepper to your liking (also salt if needed, but it shouldn't be).

Prosciutto rollups with Parmesan sprinkles

8 slices (about 1/3 lb.) thin to medium-thin sliced prosciutto
1 piece fresh Parmesan cheese, about 2x1 inches

Carefully separate the slices of prosciutto. Roll each slice into a small cylinder and flatten slightly. Cut in half at the mid-point. Arrange prosciutto half-rolls on serving plate. Grate fresh Parmesan directly onto rollups and plate.

Caprese salad
I have always suspected that this dish occupies the place it does in the Italian heart because the colours involved (red of tomatoes, green of basil, white of mozzarella) mirror those of the flag of Italy. As a side note: this is not a strictly traditional Caprese salad, as I have added balsamic vinegar to the olive oil normally drizzled over the ingredients.

- 1/2 pint small fresh mozzarella cheese balls
- 1/2 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 6-7 medium-large leaves fresh basil
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Cut the basil leaves into strips. Combine the basil leaves, tomato halves, and mozzarella balls (you can also use uovolini, or larger mozzarella, for this - just cut them into chunks about the size of the tomatoes).

Combine the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, whisking to mix well. Pour over the mixed tomatoes, basil and cheese. If not serving immediately, refrigerate, covered - but remove from refrigerator 1/2 hour before serving.

Roasted Red Peppers in Olive Oil with Garlic

You can either buy roasted peppers in a jar, or make them yourself. To roast a red pepper, either put it on the grill or hold it (using tongs) over the open flame of a gas burner on your stove top. As the skin turns black and bubbles, turn the pepper until the entire outside is blackened.

Place the roasted peppers in a heavy-duty plastic freezer bag for 10 minutes. Remove and run under cold water. The skin should slough right off.
Cut off the tops and the bottoms; the core with the seeds will fall out. Cut the remainder of the body into strips.

Assuming 2 bell peppers, you will need

- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, adulterated with
- 1 Tbsp white balsamic (or plain white) vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Chop the garlic coarsely. Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, kosher salt and black pepper together and pour over the roasted red peppers; add the garlic. Refrigerate until 1/2 hour before using.

Marinated Artichoke Hearts in White-Balsamic Vinaigrette

- 1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, quartered
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. dried mixed Italian seasoning blend

Combine last five ingredients and whisk together. Quarter artichoke hearts and place in serving or storage dish. Pour marinade over artichokes. Refrigerate. Before serving, remove artichoke hearts from marinade and transfer to serving dish; discard vinaigrette.

And the main dish, Provençal Tuna Salad.

(Note: if using canned tuna, use the white tuna packed in water. I will not be responsible for your results otherwise - not that I will anyway, but you have to have standards...)

18 oz. canned or fresh tuna, cooked (in the latter case), drained (in the former) and flaked
1/2 small red onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. capers, drained
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup Kalamata or Nicoise olives, halved
1/4-1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Adequate quantities of fresh salad greens and/or thick slices of good bread

Combine the tuna, onion, capers, tomatoes, olives and dill in a bowl large enough to mix them all, and do so. On the side, whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice, add to the bowl and mix in. Taste; add salt and pepper as needed. Let sit one hour if possible to blend flavours, or serve immediately as sandwich filling (with bread) or over generous quantities of fresh salad greens.

This entire spread fed four people, with plenty of tuna left over, but not much in the way of the antipasti. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.