Get the potluck started with chorizo pâté, corn fritters, zucchini tart
Nothing gets a party started like a variety of tasty small plates that can be passed among guests during cocktail hour to whet the appetite. The perfect mix includes something savory for the omnivores as well as meat-free bites for the vegetarians.
The best potluck appetizers are easy to transport and don’t require much assembly once you arrive — you want them to arrive just as beautiful, and delicious, as when they left your kitchen.
You can’t go wrong with a savory, spreadable chorizo pâté — it’s simple to prepare, extremely mobile and pairs well with crackers or crostini. A light and flaky tart made with cheese and summer vegetables is another sure winner as it can easily be cut into squares that can be served warm or at room temperature.
And if you’re tasked with also feeding kids, who doesn’t love a fritter, especially when it’s made with fresh corn and served with a dip, in this case guacamole? It’s familiar but at the same time fun.
If you refrigerate this peppery country-style pâté beforehand, be sure to bring it to room temperature before serving. I substituted Merlot for the port wine, and it was delicious.
The recipe is from “Lisbon: Recipes from the Heart of Portugal” by Rebecca Seal (Hardie Grant, June 2017, $35).
Chorizo Pâté Makes 6 servings
7 ounces dried Spanish chorizo sausage, hot or mild
2 teaspoons red pepper paste or 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon soft butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon port wine 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Chopped flat-leaf parsley for serving
Sliced bread, toasted, for serving
Split sausage casings and remove the meat, discarding casings. Chop meat into small pieces — your food processor will be happier the smaller you go.
Place sausage pieces in a food processor with pepper paste or paprika, butter, wine and lemon juice. Blitz to a rough paste. Taste — it will probably contain enough salt already, but you can add more if necessary. Blitz again until mixture is a finely textured puree. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and smeared on warm, crisp toast.
My neighbor Josephine’s grandniece, Arianna Di Marco, who is from Milan, brought this lovely-sounding savory tart to a summer garden party, and to say it was a hit is an understatement.
It can be served warm or at room temperature. It is easily modified to make use of whatever meat, cheese or vegetable you have on hand — I added a handful of sliced cherry tomatoes for a pop of color and additional taste of summer sunshine.
Torta Salata (Savory Tart) Makes 8 servings
2 tablespoons olive oil 2 zucchini, sliced very thin 1 onion
Salt and pepper to taste (divided)
1 cup ricotta or cream cheese
½ to 1 cup diced ham
½ to 1 cup diced provolone cheese (or another cheese similar in consistency)
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk 1 roll puff pastry
Preheat a pan with olive oil. Finely chop onion, add it to pan and stir until golden.
Cut zucchini into thin slices and add to onion in pan. Stir a couple of minutes with onion at medium heat. Then add a finger of water, some salt and pepper and let it cook 10 minutes over low heat.
Once zucchini are soft, remove them from pan. Place in a bowl and wait a couple of minutes to let them cool down a little. Add ricotta, diced ham, cheese and some salt and pepper (you can add any kitchen spice you like). Beat eggs with a fork and add them to bowl.
Preheat oven at 425 degrees.
Unroll puff pastry on a baking tray, gently tap bottom of pastry with end of a fork (to make little holes). After pouring zucchini filling on top of puff pastry, gently bend a bit of pastry from the side of the tray over the top. Coat edges of pastry with a beaten egg yolk.
Place on middle rack of oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until puffed and golden.