The jar open on the counter. That's how it begins.
Not the dinner. The dinner comes later. Before that, there's the hour when people arrive and the kitchen is doing its thing and no one has sat down yet — and somehow everyone ends up standing around with a glass of something, and that's actually the best part of the evening.
The jar open on the counter. That's how it begins.
Ingredients
- Tutto Sicilia Sun Dried Tomato Paté — the whole jar, or as much as the evening calls for
- Good bread — sourdough, ciabatta, crostini, grissini
- Optional: a wedge of pecorino, some olives, a few slices of good salami
- Extra virgin olive oil for the board
Instructions
- Open the jar.
- Spoon the paté into a small bowl, or leave it in the jar — both are correct.
- Arrange bread on a board. Add anything else that belongs there.
- Put it in the middle of the kitchen and let people find it.
- Pour the wine.
Nonna's Notes
She always had something out when people arrived. She said a good host makes you feel expected, not accommodated. The jar is a way of saying: I knew you were coming. Here.
Sun dried tomato paté was made for this hour. Intensely flavoured — August tomatoes from the southernmost corner of Sicily, sun-dried slowly, preserved in olive oil — it needs nothing more than good bread and a knife left nearby for people to help themselves.
No recipe required. Just the jar, open, with a board and whatever bread you have. The paté does the rest. It's a quietly extraordinary thing that makes the aperitivo hour feel like somewhere you actually want to be.
The aperitivo hour is underrated. It's the part of the evening before anyone has sat down and everything is still open-ended. Keep a jar in the pantry. You'll be glad it's there when it matters.
