Appetizers Ahoy

Okay, so for this dinner for 26+ people, I took it a little easy on the starters. Little skewers with mozzarella balls and cherry tomatoes, crostini with a white bean and sage dip and olives. See, easy.

The skewers were simply marinated mozzarella balls from Trader Joes and cherry tomatoes. I also experimented with putting olives on a few of them just for color. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s by you or you want to marinate the mozzarella yourself, here’s a good recipe.

Marinated Bocconcini
1 clove garlic, smashed, plus 1 other clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp chopped parsley
12 bocconcini (small mozzarella balls), about 8 ounces

Combine the garlic, salt, pepper flakes, and olive oil in a medium glass bowl. Cover and microwave on high until the garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Cool. Add the parsley, minced garlic and bocconcini and refrigerate for at least 1 and up to 24 hours.

Then you simply skewer a cherry tomato and then a mozzarella ball. Fini.

Now repeat like 50 times.

Roasted Garlic and White Bean Dip with Sage
1 can white beans, drained
1 head of garlic, excess outer skin removed
1/4+ cup olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wrap garlic bulb in foil and roast 30-45 minutes until soft. Let cool until it can be handled easily.

Add beans to a food processor bowl. Squeeze roasted garlic paste out and add olive oil, lemon and sage. Process until smooth. Add more olive oil if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt and pepper. Serve with crackers or toasted baguette slices.

Happy Valentine’s Day
I know I am a big tease but I am going to cover the cookie flowers and talk about the dark chocolate and orange tart I made for the dinner on Wednesday.