I love to make anti-pasta platters. I have a Sicilian background and when it came to the holidays we always had a anti-pasta platter. For those who do not know a anti-pasta platter is traditionally something you would put out like a salad, it usually always consists of cured meats, like salami, pepperoni, and prosciutto. It usually always has some kind of cheeses like mozzarella and provolone, and then there are usually a hand full of accompaniments like olives, tomatoes and dips.

My favorite item on the platter is the eggplant capponata. it is chunks of eggplant made with tomato sauce, herbs and raisins, and makes for a excellent bread spread. There is so much you can do with these platters and items and get so many different presentations out of them. You can fold, roll, or slice the meats, dress the extras up however you like and put in all kind of dishes to give great depth to the platter, and you can cut the cheeses however you would like to give it that last little oomph. One of the things I like to do is tossed artichoke hearts in pesto, toss the olives in oils and pickled red onions, and marinade in oils and herbs grape tomatoes.

As always have fun and be extremely creative.