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All of these recipes are easy to pull off, and most can be done ahead of time. Make one or two, or make a bunch, and you’ll find yourself having one of those evenings where everyone’s feeling happy and full, and you unanimously decide not to go out to dinner after all.

pesto

Makes about 1 cup

Fresh pesto is available in grocery stores, but if you have a blender or a food processor, and fresh basil is abundant, it’s much cheaper to make your own. This keeps for weeks, or even months, if you keep the top sealed with a layer of olive oil, and you store it in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. Use it on any dish (and on several of these Party Snacks!) where basil and garlic are already welcome.

3 cups (tightly packed) fresh basil leaves

3 medium cloves garlic

1/3 cup olive oil, plus a little extra

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place the basil leaves and garlic in a food processor or blender, and pulverize. Keep the machine running while you drizzle in the olive oil in a steady stream. When you have a smooth paste (seconds later), transfer to a bowl (being sure you scrape every last bit from the blender or food processor) and stir in the cheese. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid, and smooth the top surface of the pesto. Drizzle in enough olive oil to seal the surface, cover, and refrigerate until use.

GET CREATIVE

Use a high-quality olive oil.

You can blend 1/3 cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts (raw or lightly toasted) into the basil and garlic.

Add some salt and pepper to taste.

crostini, any style (little italian toasts)

Makes 12 crostini; serves 4 as an appetizer

In Italy, toast isn’t relegated to the breakfast table. Slices of toasted bread are served as an appetizer, antipasto, or midday snack. Sometimes they’re rubbed with garlic and given a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and maybe some chopped tomatoes and basil. That’s bruschetta (“brus-ketta”). Then there are small slices of toasted bread, spread with savory toppings. Those are crostini (you can pronounce that). Here’s how to make them, plus a few ideas for things to put on top. It’s fun to serve a big platter of them with a bunch of different toppings. Use good bread (somewhat stale is okay, and this is a nice way to use up a day-old baguette), watch it carefully when toasting, so it doesn’t burn, and you can’t go wrong. A pastry brush comes in handy here.

1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic (1 good-sized clove)

Twelve ½-inch-thick diagonal slices from 1 or 2 French baguettes

1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven (or toaster oven) to 350°F. Line a baking tray with foil.

2. Combine the olive oil and garlic in a small bowl.

3. Lightly brush the bread on both sides with the olive oil–garlic mixture. Arrange the bread slices on the prepared tray. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the bread is lightly toasted. (Keep an eye on it, so it doesn’t burn.)

4. Remove the tray from the oven, and let the crostini cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Top with any of the toppings listed at the right.

* * *

GET CREATIVE

Top crostini with any of these, or come up with your own ideas. Pretty much anything savory and flavorful will work. Create your own signature crostini, and name them after yourself.

A spoonful of goat cheese or fresh ricotta sprinkled with a bit of freshly grated black pepper and, if you like, a drizzle of high-quality olive oil

A small slice of ripe tomato and some minced fresh basil (and a small slice of fresh mozzarella, if you like)

A dab of pesto (store-bought or homemade—see Chapter 8: Party Snacks) and a halved cherry tomato

Chopped olives

Olive spread (tapenade) from a jar

A small pile of well-cooked onions

Hummus (store-bought or homemade—see Chapter 8: Party Snacks)

Small pieces of cooked asparagus (Chapter 7: Sides) and, if you like, a strip of prosciutto

A slice of tomato,