Italian Tray 2

Second half of a classic Italian antipasto tray setup. This one is less recipe and more party-platter roadmap. Thinly sliced salami, Polish ham, and other cold cuts get cut into triangles or rolled around softened cream cheese and pinned with a green olive on a toothpick.

Cherry tomatoes do the prettiest work on the tray. Leave them whole as-is, or hollow out the tops and spoon in tuna salad or deviled ham brightened with a touch of horseradish. Dust with chopped parsley for color.

Black and green olives, green onion sticks, and a few ice chips tucked between components to keep everything cool round out the tray. Retro appetizer entertaining the way it was done on Italian-American tables across New Jersey and Long Island in the 1960s and 70s.

Pro Tips

• Pat the salami slices dry before rolling with cream cheese. Wet meat makes the cream cheese slide out the ends during rolling.
• Add horseradish to the tuna or deviled ham filling gradually, tasting as you go. A little wakes it up; too much overwhelms the delicate tomato shell.
• Chill the filled cherry tomatoes for 30 minutes before serving. The filling firms and slices cleaner under a toothpick.
• Arrange the tray asymmetrically, not in neat rows. Loose, abundant layouts read as generous; rigid grids look stingy even when they aren’t.

Variations

• Use prosciutto or mortadella in place of salami for a more regional Italian feel.
• Stuff tomatoes with whipped goat cheese and sun-dried tomato instead of tuna for a vegetarian option.
• Add a small bowl of giardiniera or marinated artichokes in the center of the tray.