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meant so much to me, and this ritual was such an integral part of those nights, that I wanted to re-create a similar experience at my restaurant. I wanted everyone to be able to walk in, have a drink, and start tasting good things right away, even if they weren’t ready to dig in to a big meal yet. I figured, if I like to eat this way, why wouldn’t my customers? But I didn’t want to offer just a couple of snacks; I wanted to commit to this idea, this concept of having lots of lovely little nibbles to choose from. So I developed a separate menu of just piccolini—beautiful little bites of food designed to take the edge off while you have a drink, to get your palate going for the main course, or to make up an entire meal. As someone who loves food and tasting a variety of different things, offering lots of small plates made perfect sense to me—so I did it.

These piccolini recipes are some of my very favorites, the ones that I make over and over again and never get tired of eating—or cooking. When I make piccolini for friends, I make an assortment and serve them as a little family of flavors. Some are very easy to pull together while others take a bit of effort, but the main thing is they give you a reason to chat and drink, and they get you warmed up for what’s next!

If you’re making a few different piccolini, keep in mind how important variety is. Remember, always look at the big picture when you’re cooking and think about how different foods work together. You want each piccolini to offer something a little different in your mouth: a bit of crunch contrasted with something smooth, maybe something salty next to something sweet. But most important, you want to have fun! Invite a few friends over, open a bottle of wine or two, and pick a bunch of your favorite piccolini.

Mortadella Pâté

Zucchini & Parm Fritters with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Stir-Fried Marinated Olives

Truffled Deviled Eggs

Figs Stuffed with Gorgonzola & Walnuts

Chicken Liver Pâté with Balsamic Onions

Peperonata with Goat Cheese

Sausage & Pancetta Stuffed Mushrooms

Oyster Mushroom Chips

Eggplant Cakes with Ricotta

Prosciutto-Arugula Breadstick “Brooms”

Polpettini (Yummy Little Meatballs)

Hard Polenta Cakes with Taleggio & Cherry Tomatoes

Parmigiano-Crusted Cauliflower with Garlic Dipper

Cipolline Tempura with Aïoli

White Bean Purée with Prosciutto

Grilled Corn, Bacon & Chili Crostini

Tomato-Basil Bruschetta

Baked Ricotta with Rosemary & Lemon

Mortadella Pâté

SERVES: 6 TO 8 • TIME: ABOUT 20 MINUTES

Mortadella is a super-high-quality baloney. In fact, it’s probably the most delicious baloney you’ve ever had. At one of my dinner parties I was serving mortadella and one of my guests said, “Hey, this baloney has nuts in it!” And it does: Mortadella is full of pistachios and chunky bits of fat, both of which make it super-flavorful. My mortadella pâté is puréed, mixed with whipped cream, and topped with pistachios—think of it as baloney mousse.

MISE EN PLACE

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ cup chicken stock

½ pound mortadella, 6 ounces cut into 2-inch chunks and 2 ounces cut into small dice

1 cup heavy cream, whipped to medium peaks

½ cup shelled and chopped pistachios

1 Melt the butter in a large, deep saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, continuing to whisk until well combined; it should look like wet sand. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2 Purée the large chunks of mortadella in a food processor until very smooth, then add the butter-flour mixture and continue puréeing until the mixture is homogeneous. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and check the consistency—it should be very smooth.

3 Transfer the purée to a large mixing bowl and add the diced mortadella, along with a third of the whipped cream. Gently combine the whipped cream into the mixture; repeat twice more. What you’re looking for is a homogeneous mixture without any streaks of cream. Transfer the pâté to a serving dish and