Italian Appetizers

When we are entertaining, I like to have as much as I can done the day before.  That includes cleaning the house, grocery shopping, setting the table and prepping as much food as I can.  That way when we have friends over, I am not tired and I can relax and enjoy my time with them.  So if you are looking for a menu that allows you to do most of the prepping the day before and about 15 minutes the day of here it is...

Procuttio crisps (I made the crisps the night before and assembled the next day )

Salami bites (I made the cream cheese and herbs the night before and assembled the next day)

Roasted Olives  (Also, made the night before) (All these recipes are listed under the appetizer heading.)

Almonds (from a can, which couldn't be simpler!)

Tortellini Salad (Again made the night before)

And keeping with the theme, I served homemade Italian Sodas (Cherry and Peach) as a non-alcohol drink.

    

Tortellini Salad

 Originally I was going to make skewers of marinated cheese tortellini (cook according to package), grape tomatoes and cubed mozzarella cheese, but when I assembled them I didn't like how they looked.  The cheese and the tortellini just looked too white/plain next to each other and seem redundant (cheese and cheese).  So I dumped them in this over size martini glass.  Still something was missing, it was still too white/plain looking, so I threw in some black olives to give it some color.  Perfect!  I then just made a simple vinaigrette with fresh herbs from my container garden. 

Since, I didn't have any skewer assembly, this made the prep time even easier and the presentation even prettier!