Calabrese Antipasto Recipes

ANTIPASTO

Steps:

• Mix first 5 ingredients in large pot. Boil 5 minutes.
• Add next 4 ingredients, boil 10 minutes.
• Add balance of ingredients. Try not to break up shrimp and tuna too much. Bring to just boiling.
• Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.
• Note: *Drain everything except olives and pickled onion juice. Biffy and Frank's flub (taste great.) Omit vinegar.
• Optional - small amount of brown sugar, HP sauce, chopped garlic, hot pepper sauce (dried or fresh) WE NEVER USE THESE.
• Something sure has changed with Recipe Zaar! When trying to put the ingredients in it was a big pain in the butt for the sizes. I've converted the grams to ounces but I didn't have everything in my cupboard to actually look at so I guessed. But most cans come pretty standard, and the "Frozen Shrimp" is a large bag -- it wouldn't let me put just "large.".

ANTIPASTO

Steps:

• In a large bowl with enough lightly salted water to cover, place the cauliflower, pearl onions, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, celery and cucumbers. Soak 8 to 12 hours, or overnight.
• In a small bowl with enough lightly salted water to cover, place the carrots. Soak 8 to 12 hours, or overnight.
• In a large saucepan, place the vegetable oil, vinegar, tomato paste and pickling spice. Bring the mixture to a boil. Drain and rinse the carrots, and place them in the mixture. Boil 10 minutes.
• Drain and rinse the vegetables in the cauliflower mixture. Place them into the saucepan. Cook 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender but crisp.
• Stir black olives, green olives, mushrooms and tuna into the mixture. Remove the mixture from heat. Discard the wrapped pickling spice. While still hot, transfer to sterile containers and refrigerate.

CALABRESE ANTIPASTO

Steps:

• Place all of the prepared and drained vegetables in separate bowls and reserve their juices.
• In a large saucepan, combine ketchup, Worcestershire, horseradish, tomato sauce, tarragon vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, lemon juice, and cayenne. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Season, to taste, with salt.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Blanch the cauliflower for about 2 minutes; it should still be crisp. With a skimmer, transfer the florets to a tray to cool quickly. Repeat with the carrots and then with the celery, cooking them just long enough to remove their raw taste; they will be cooked more later. Add the white wine vinegar to the water and blanch the mushrooms for 1 minute (the vinegar will keep the mushrooms white). Drain and spread the mushrooms on a tray to cool quickly.
• Add the cauliflower, carrots, celery, and mushrooms to the sauce. Add the juices from the canned and jarred vegetables. Add the pepperoncini, olives, pickles, onions, and artichoke hearts and toss well.
• In sterilized canning jars, place 1 teaspoon tarragon vinegar (this will guarantee freshness). Load the sauced vegetables into the jar, using a wide-mouthed funnel to avoid a mess.
• In one of the large pans that you have used, add olive oil, tuna, and anchovies and mix well. Top each jar with some of the tuna mixture. Cover and refrigerate, or allow to cool on the counter before serving. This will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

BOMBA CALABRESE (SPICY CALABRIAN PEPPER SPREAD)

Steps:

• Place mushrooms, onion, and eggplant into bowl of a food processor. Pulse on and off until very finely chopped but not liquefied, 8 to 10 pulses.
• Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil into a skillet. Transfer mushroom mixture to skillet over medium-high heat. Add a large pinch of salt. Cook until mixture is soft, stirring, about 10 minutes.
• Cut off tops of cherry peppers; discard stems but save the ring of pepper around it. (Do wear protective gloves for this.) Cut the peppers in half and remove the seed pods. Shake out the rest of the seeds. Prep the bell peppers and habanero peppers the same way. Place all peppers in bowl of food processor. Pulse on and off until peppers are very finely chopped, but not liquefied. Transfer peppers to eggplant-onion-mushroom mixture in skillet. Add remaining olive oil. Cook and stir over medium-high heat, reducing heat as needed if mixture looks like it may brown. Add fennel seeds, oregano, and a pinch of salt. Cook until peppers are sweet and tender, 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
• Stir in white wine vinegar and (optionally) another tablespoon of olive oil. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and cool to room temperature. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt, a splash of vinegar, and/or olive oil, if needed. Transfer to jars. Store in refrigerator.