In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m printing here what is perhaps my mother’s best-ever recipe. The taste of this antipasto is the taste of my childhood, a beer-briney marinade softened by the richness of prosciutto, mozzarella and artichoke hearts, freshened with cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. This appeared at my waspy family’s holiday tables the way octopus salad shows up on Sicilian tables: they are always there and everyone is always happy about it.
The same is true today. We make a big batch of it, have it to nibble on with glasses of wine (rose season is perfect for this recipe). After a couple of days, when the meats begin to break down a bit (They are perfectly fine; they just don’t shine anymore) we use the rest of is as a topping for the best pizza you’ve ever had.
This recipe has it all: it’s beautiful. It’s delicious. It’s really just assembly, no cooking. You can make it two days ahead. It makes me think about my mother, Carole Litty.
The Best Antipasto - my mother’s recipe.
serves 8 - 10 as an appetizer
Ingredients:
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup beer
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoons sugar
12 teaspoons dry mustard
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 12 ounce jar marinated artichokes (halved or quartered)
2 packages proscuitto + mozzarella rolls (or salami + mozzarella rolls. These are prepackaged and easy to find with packaged deli meats.
24 cherry tomatoes
12 mushrooms, sliced in half or quarters, depending on their size
24 pitted black olives
Instructions
Combine olive oil, vinegar, beer, and seasonings in a glass jar with a tight lid. Shake well to emulsify.
Toss remaining ingredients all together in a large bowl. Pour dressing over the mixture and toss gently but thoroughly to combine. Allow antipasto to marinate for 2 hours or more. Storing it in a large tupperware container allows you to turn it over and remix the dressing easily. This can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.
To make the antipasto pizza:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lay pizza dough of your choosing out on a cornmeal-dusted baking dish. Distribute antipasto in one layer over dough. Sprinkle additional grated mozzarella over the whole pizza. Bake for 20 minutes or until pizza is brown and bubbling. Allow to cool slightly before slicing into squares.