The Vegetable Platter is a great idea to serve for buffets or in the summer with barbecues. You can choose from a wide variety of vegetables, of course, alternating with pickles, cheeses, and sausages like I did. Here I just want to give you an idea of how to prepare a rich and very scenic vegetable platter easily. Here is my version with seasonal vegetables that I chose during this period, obviously the vegetables will change depending on the season. Here I present my platter that I prepared for the buffet on the occasion of my 50th birthday, celebrated at the office with colleagues.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 eggplant
- 2 zucchini
- 4 red bell peppers
- 7 oz champignon mushrooms
- 2 Jalapeño peppers (optional)
- 7 oz feta cheese
- 3.5 oz green olives
- 3.5 oz pickled baby corn
- 3.5 oz salami
- 3.5 oz pickled stuffed peppers
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- to taste herbs
- 2 leaves lettuce
- 1 clove garlic
- to taste parsley
Steps
Begin preparing your vegetable platter by washing the zucchini and eggplants and slicing them. Place the eggplants on a serving plate, sprinkle with salt, and let them sweat for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, wash and cut the peppers and mushrooms. The mushrooms should be cooked in a hot pan with a clove of garlic and some oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, and parsley, and left to cook for about 6-8 minutes. Once ready, set the mushrooms aside. Now continue cooking the peppers in the same pan with a drizzle of oil, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
At this point, start cooking the zucchini and eggplants, patting the eggplants dry with kitchen paper. Heat a non-stick grill and cook all the eggplants and zucchini a little at a time. Then place them on a serving plate and season with salt, pepper, oil, and various herbs; I used oregano, thyme, and parsley. Then let them rest.
At this point, when you have cooked all the vegetables, cut the feta cheese into cubes, chop the chili pepper, drain all the pickles, and start assembling your platter.
I used a fairly large tray about 24 inches long. Place a couple of lettuce leaves as a base and then start arranging the vegetables next to each other to form strips, as you see in the photo. If you’re creative, you can also arrange the vegetables in waves, but I preferred to play it safe with a classic shape.
Once ready, you can further season your vegetable platter with other spices, like sweet paprika on the cheese, or a drizzle of raw oil, then serve immediately.
If you want some more ideas for Buffet check HERE.
Saby suggests…
As previously mentioned, my vegetable platter is just a small example of how to create one; of course, you can get creative and alternate other cheeses or more cheeses or different raw and cooked vegetables.
