As anyone who considers themselves a connoisseur of delicious food knows, Italy is world-renowned for having some of the best cuisine in the world. Even if our own cooking isn’t at the level of a world-class Italian chef, we probably still work some simple Italian cooking into our own dinner routine at times. For a low stress dinner, we might whip up some spaghetti with meatballs or some garlic bread. Still, sometimes you might want to take things up a notch without losing that Italian flavor.
For that, we have a perfect recipe for you to try today that you could even serve up at your next backyard party or grill out. In Italian, antipasto is an appetizer plate which often includes olives, anchovies, meats and various cheeses. While it may usually be served as a charcuterie plate, today we’re going to make a baked casserole of antipasto squares that you can chop up and serve as finger food. Though it’s got all the delicious flavors you love from Italian food, the presentation gives it a little something extra. So let’s get started.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- cooking spray
- 2 cans of crescent dough
- 1/2 pound of deli ham
- 1/4 pound of pepperoni
- 1/4 pound of sliced provolone
- 1/4 pound of sliced mozzarella
- 1 cup of sliced pepperoncini
- 1 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/4 cup of grated parmesan
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
Here’s what you do:
1. To get started, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get your baking sheet greased with cooking spray. Next, start unrolling your crescent dough onto the sheet and pinch the seams together. Once it’s all rolled out, layer your ham, pepperoni, provolone, mozzarella and pepperoncini on top of it.
2. With the first part of the pastry set, unroll the other roll of crescent dough and put it on top of the pepperoncini. Once again, pinch together the seams so that it seals up properly. After that, brush the top of the dough with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle it with parmesan and oregano.
3. With your pastry all set and ready to go, pop the entire thing in the oven for about 30 minutes and let it bake. Check to see that the top is golden brown and that the entire thing is cooked all the way through. If you see that your dough on top is getting too brown too quickly, cover the entire thing with foil.
4. Once your pastry is ready, pull it out of the oven and let it cool off for at least 15 minutes. When it’s not too hot to work with, chop it up into squares and serve!
While this recipe is a not exactly classically Italian, it does provide a nice Americanized take on Italian food presented in a fun and delicious way. If you’re throwing a party that demands delicious finger food, few recipes are as up to the challenge as this one is. As always, feel free to take this recipe and make it your own. If you want to add different cheeses or experiment with different cuts of meat, feel free to do so—we also recommend serving it with some olive tapenade!
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