Antipasto Platter

I have a confession to make.  This was actually what my family ate for dinner the other night.  But, let's pretend that I threw an elegant cocktail party and served this instead! {Somehow elegant cocktail parties don't happen with two kids, three cats and a dog in my house.}  Just because I didn't entertain with this, doesn't mean you can't!  I promise, if you break this baby out, be it at a backyard BBQ or having the boss over for dinner, it is sure to impress!  I mean come on, it looks amazing, right?

Since the ingredients are pretty easy to detect in the pictures, I'm just going to tell you how I assembled this.  I'll also give you a few more suggestions for other ingredients!

First, you will need a large platter.  I happened to have some ripe tomatoes from my garden and a ton of basil.  I sliced the tomatoes thinly and seasoned them with a little salt, then arranged them on the platter.  I also had some fresh mozzarella. {I was originally thinking Caprese Salad} After I arranged the "Caprese" I drizzled a little olive oil over it.  Then I sliced some salami and arranged that next to the tomatoes.  My father-in-law has a fig tree and I have a ton of fresh figs, so I quartered them and arranged them as well. Next came the marcona almonds, olives and artichoke hearts.  The bread I grilled lightly on a grill pan and drizzled with a little more olive oil.  I swear this was really easy to make and only took a few minutes to assemble.

Here are a few more suggestions if you are looking for substitutions.  Sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, green olives, dried apricots, goat cheese, prosciutto.  I'm sure there are many more ingredients, but that's what comes to mind right now.  Send me a picture of your Antipasto Platter!  I'd love to see what you use!

Ciao!