Preparation

• Crab meat and chickpeas: a quick and tasty appetizer. Slice the crab meat thinly and combine it with the chickpeas, seasoning with salt, vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. If you have flax, sesame or other seeds at home, add a bit of them. I added poppy seeds that I often use when making bread.

  

• The term “carpione” refers more to the method of preservation than to the specific preparation: after dredging and frying the fish, it is marinated with various aromatics (bay leaf, sage, carrots, celery) in a mixture of 1/4 water and 3/4 vinegar for at least one day. Marinated latterini (small smelts) cannot be missing from the Christmas table as an appetizer — their tangy flavor whets the appetite.

  

• I assure you that of all the seafood appetizers, this is my favorite. You only need a can of tuna in olive oil, a tube of mayonnaise and the main ingredient that must not be missing: the kiwi. A successful pairing! Try it. This tuna mousse spread on slices of toasted bread is truly tasty.

  

• Herring in sour cream with dill. A dish with very strong flavors starting from the smoked herrings, but if well balanced it can be an excellent seafood appetizer. Ready-to-use cleaned and desalinated herrings are available on the market, so you can avoid the whole preparation and cleaning process. Combine the herrings with sour cream and sprigs of dill — dish ready!

  

• Anchovy rolls with breadcrumbs and cherry tomatoes. Clean and debone the anchovies, prepare fresh breadcrumbs and season them with salt, oil, parsley, cherry tomatoes cut into small pieces and garlic. Prepare the rolls and bake them for 15 minutes at 374°F.

  

• Baby octopus with cannellini beans and parsley. Nothing easier: canned cannellini beans are also fine to simplify and shorten preparation times. Cook the baby octopus in a pressure cooker with half a glass of white wine, extra virgin olive oil, salt, half a clove of garlic and parsley. When they are lukewarm add the beans — the dish is ready!