Antipasto Piemontese

In Piemonte we call this mix of lightly pickled crunchy vegetables in a tomato sauce “starter”, Antipasto. Antipasto is made in every home at the end of the summer, when tomatoes are ripe and vegetables are plentiful, and then preserved and served for the rest of the year.

We adapted the recipe to products widely available in UK, so we can all enjoy this wonderful treat. It is often served with the addition of tuna and olives.

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Ingredients

2 cans of finely chopped tomatoes (Mutti Polpa)

1 cauliflower

2 red peppers

2 yellow peppers

1 jar of pickled small cocktail onions

300 g carrots

300 g green beans

1 white celery

350 ml white wine vinegar 

350 ml extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp fine salt

3tbsp caster sugar

3 cloves

1 pinch of ground nutmeg

1 rosemary sprig

10 basil leaves

Method

Wash and chop the vegetables (celery, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, peppers) into pieces of equal dimension.

Pour the canned tomatoes in a big pan, with the rosemary sprig, basil leaves, sugar, salt and vinegar, then bring to the boil for about 15 minutes.

Add the vegetables in the following order, one kind to be added 10 minutes after the other: carrots, green beans, celery, cauliflower and peppers. 

After the peppers have been added, cook for 10 more minutes and finally add the drained cocktail onions.  

If the tomato sauce is very liquid, drain the vegetables and then boil the sauce until the desired consistency (you will be looking for a loose, not watery, passata consistency).

Then put the vegetables back into the sauce and bring to the boil again. Eventually, add the olive oil and stir well.

Pour the Antipasto into sterilised  jars and, after putting the lids on, leave the jars upside down. 

Antipasto is eaten cold, with bread; it is very often served with canned tuna.