I love dinner parties, but I cringe anytime I’m asked to bring an appetizer. I prefer to bring a salad or a side dish that will accompany the host’s main dish. Appetizers is where I tend to fall flat. With the exception of putting together a board of various cured meats and cheeses, I find myself constantly looking for appetizers that taste great, look great, and are easy to make and transport, since most of my friends are a car ride away.
Then I found it.
This dish is based on a marinated feta cheese recipe from Ina Garten. I’ll admit, I cut some corners here. Garten’s recipe calls for refrigerating the dish for at least 4 hours. The first time I made this dish I had about 4 minutes before I needed to walk out the door. Guess what….it tasted great! Garten also uses green olives with pits. Since I’m preparing this dish for guests, I prefer pit-free olives. I don’t want guests to have to chew on a pit and then discard it. I like green olives stuffed with pimento. Big or small, your call. They provide a nice burst of color, and when the feta is nestled between the olives and roasted red peppers, the dish looks outstanding!
Garten recommends serving the feta with homemade pita triangles. It’s a wonderful accompaniment and a perfect delivery system. Plus they’re very easy to make. Simply cut pita bread into triangles and lightly brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Be careful not to toast them too long. You want them to have some give and not break apart when you eat them.
Here’s all you need:
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon dried fennel seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon crushed red peppers
• Greek feta, drained and sliced thin (not too thin that it crumbles). Use your favorite brand. The package I use is 7oz and makes enough for 4-6 people.
• Fresh thyme (optional). If you happen to have some on hand, you can place it around the platter as pictured above. Otherwise, you don’t need it.
• Pitted olives (as many or as few as you like). Again, I prefer olives stuffed with pimento, but use what you like.
• Sliced roasted red peppers
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Mix the dried thyme, fennel and red pepper flakes together. Overlap the sliced feta on a platter and sprinkle with a generous amount of the herb mixture (if you have some dried herb mixture left over, just store it until next time). Drizzle the herbed feta with the olive oil. Be sure to use a fair amount oil. You don’t want the herbs to be dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the olives on one side of the feta and the sliced roasted red peppers on the other.
That’s it.
This is one appetizer I’m sure you’ll be making again and again.
-tsp
The Serene Palate 