The Italians invented aperitivo.
When staying in Milan as well as in Rome some years ago we were happy about aperitivo. It starts in late afternoon & let you have some wine or Spritz or cocktails together w/ a selection of savory bits & bites usually presented as a buffet. Until early evening you may indulge in drinks & food …
You get prosciutto, salame, green & black olives, marinated vegetables, small tramezzini, pizza bits, salads … A lot of the buffett food you’ll also find at your favorite Italian restaurant. However, we found a very fresh appetizer one day in a bar: carpaccio di zucchini.
My better half & I like to do aperitivo – on a small scale i. e. just the 2 of us – when at home during weekends … and we do it everywhere … We are staying now in Northern Spain, but also here e do our nice little aperitivo relying on local delicacies.
You start w/ a zucchini resp. courgette, some arugula & Parmesan …
Grab a big plate … (If you like you may rub a sliced clove of garlic over the plate!) … & pull the arugula to pieces.
Add some dressing out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar & sweet mustard …
Now it gets really tricky:
- Cut the zucchini into slices as thin as possible (try about 1 mm!).
- Add some lemon flavoured oil, but only a touch. (Don’t drown the zucchini in oil!)
Then make a layer of zucchini on top of the arugula & add freshly ground pepper.
Last step: shred the Parmesan!
… & scatter the Parmesan on top!
Enjoy!
- 1 zucchini (a small one)
- 30-40 g arugula
- 30-40 g shredded Parmesan
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp sweet mustard
- 1-2 tbsp lemon flavoured oil
- pepper
- a clove of garlic (optional)
- Optional: Rub the sliced clove of garlic all over the plate for the dish.
- Pull the arugula to pieces.
- Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar & sweet mustard.
- Mix arugula & dressing in a separate bowl or just scatter the arugula on the plate & drizzle the dressing over the arugula.
- Cut the zucchini in thin slices – as thin as possible.
- Add lemon flavoured oil to the zucchini, mix w/o crashing the zucchini slices.
- Layer the zucchini slices over the arugula.
- Add a lot of freshly ground pepper.
- Shred the Parmesan & scatter on top.
- Serve w/ fresh baguette.
