Small Bites, Slow Intention
Cicchetti are Venice's quiet offering to the art of gathering — little toasts passed across marble counters in dim bacari, eaten standing, unhurried, with a glass of something cold. There's a kind of generosity in the small bite: it asks nothing of you except presence. Assembling a spread like this is less a task than a ritual, each piece arranged with its own quiet logic. It's the kind of table that draws people in without demanding anything of them.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Italian bread
- • Fish • •
- 3 slices Italian bread
- 1 cup/handful of arugula
- 2 ounces Vigo Sardines in Oil with Lemon
- 1/4 cups Vigo Sliced Calamata Olives, chopped roughly
- 2 Alessi Sun Dried Tomatoes, chopped finely to garnish
- Alessi White Balsamic Reduction, drizzled to garnish
- • Mortadella • •
- 3 slices Italian bread
- 1 garlic clove, rubbed onto bread slices
- 1/4 cups seasoned with a pinch of Alessi Sea Salt + Pepper, and whipped
- 6 slices of Mortadella
- Crushed pistachios, for garnish
- • Prosciutto Caprese • •
- 3 slices Italian bread
- 4 ounces Buffalo mozzarella, sliced
- 1 heirloom tomato, sliced
- 3 slices Prosciutto di Parma, sliced thin
- Basil, to garnish
- Alessi Traditional Balsamic Reduction, drizzled to garnish
- • Cheese • •
- 3 slices Italian bread
- 3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese
- Apricot fruit paste and Alessi Black Pepper, to garnish
Instructions
- Slice Italian bread loaf into 1” pieces. Toast lightly.
- Assemble each toast point by layering ingredients and styling as desired.
- Arrange Cicchetti on your favorite serving plate.
- Makes 3 of each Cicchetti, 12 Total