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Aperitivos are the perfect summer tradition, offering light drinks and bites while unwinding and enjoying the warm evening air.
Ashley Cuoco
Melon Balls with Baked Prosciutto
Aperitivo is the Italian tradition of having lovely drinks and snacks before dinner. Derived from the Latin “aperire,” meaning “to open” and is meant to open up the appetite. I enjoy this tradition the most in the summer because it can be enjoyed in the warm evening outside.
Your aperitivo can be as simple or fancy as you’d like. Chilled Prosecco, salted nuts, olives and potato chips make an easy spread to offer guests. Or make my aperitivo recipes to offer a fancier spread.
Eggplant Pâté
August is eggplant season and one of my favorite ways to prepare these gorgeous purple-skinned aubergines is in eggplant dip.
Makes 4 - 6 servings
- 1 cup pureed eggplant (For one cup of eggplant puree, you will need two eggplants)
- 1 red bell pepper, cored, roasted, peeled and pureed
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2¼ ounces pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 12 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1½ teaspoons mild Peri-Peri sauce (medium Peri-Peri sauce may be substituted if you like spicy)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 ounces goats milk cheese
- Firehook Mediterranean Baked Crackers — sea salt variety or your favorite flatbread crackers for serving
- Fresh basil leaves for garnish
To roast and puree eggplant: Cut eggplant in half horizontally and roast in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 25–35 minutes or until tender. Scoop out eggplant pulp and discard eggplant shell. Puree eggplant in blender or food processor.
To roast and puree red bell pepper: Place cored pepper under oven broiler. Broil on all sides until blackened. Place pepper in a brown paper bag, close the bag and allow the pepper to cool. Remove the pepper from bag and scrape off the peel with a sharp knife. Cut pepper in half and remove seeds, rinse gently with water to remove all seeds. Puree pepper in a blender or food processor.
To make the eggplant pâté: Melt butter in small sauté pan. Add pine nuts and sauté over medium-low heat, stirring constantly (watch carefully because pine nuts will burn easily) until pine nuts begin to brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place the eggplant puree, red pepper puree, oregano, basil leaves, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, Peri-Peri sauce and tomato paste in a blender or food processor. Blend until all ingredients are combined and the mixture has a relatively smooth consistency. If the mixture is too thick to blend, add a little more olive oil.
Spread half of the eggplant mixture in a small flat serving dish. Crumble the goat cheese over the eggplant mixture. Top the goat cheese with the other half of the eggplant mixture. Top the eggplant mixture with the pine nuts. Garnish with a few fresh basil leaves.
Serve with flatbread crackers.
Asiago Basil Flatbread
Yield: 8 slices
- 11-inch thin pizza crust (I recommend Sweet Loren’s thin pizza crust available at Kroger)
- 1 tablespoon Olivelle Sweet Butter Infused Olive Oil
- 20 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
- 12 cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup grated Asiago cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 6 slices baked prosciutto (see recipe below) crumbled (optional)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a large baking tray.
Place pizza crust on parchment paper on baking tray and brush with butter olive oil.
Bake pizza crust for 5 minutes. Remove from oven.
Place salt on a plate. Use a fork to mash garlic into salt, to make a paste.
Spread garlic paste over pizza crust.
Sprinkle cheeses evenly over pizza crust. Top with basil and chopped cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle with baked crumbled prosciutto (if using). Press down lightly to help adhere the ingredients to the crust.
Bake 12 minutes or until crust is crispy and browned on the bottom. Cut flatbread into small squares. Serve warm.
Melon Balls With Baked Prosciutto
Yield: serves 6 -8
To bake prosciutto: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place slices of prosciutto on a rack on a baking sheet (with sides). Fat from the prosciutto will fall through the rack onto the baking sheet as it bakes. Bake for 7 – 10 minutes or until the prosciutto is crispy. Keep a close eye on the prosciutto as it bakes, it can burn easily.
To make melon balls: Using a melon baller, make melon balls out of watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew melons.
To serve: Place melon balls in a chilled glass bowl. Drizzle a little fresh lime juice over the melon balls. Garnish melon balls with small sprigs of fresh mint. Place bowl on a serving platter. Arrange baked prosciutto around the bowl. Serve with toothpicks.
Want to savor la dolce vita this summer with more Italian aperitivo recipes? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our July/August 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!