Lemony Salami Bites

It is not uncommon for me (and many others) to serve salami (or some sort of sliced meat) and marcona almonds on a hors d’oeuvres platter. So why would one want to combine these? This simple appetizer is a great example of how the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Marcona almonds are sweet and more moist than traditional (or California) almonds and make a great addition to a charcuterie board. You can find them unseasoned or lightly salted or flavored with herbs or spices. For this recipe, I used rosemary marcona almonds as I had them on hand.

I selected an organic sweet sopressata salami for two reasons. I wanted to control the thickness of the pieces so I opted to cut it myself rather than take a shortcut and purchase already sliced salami. I also selected a thin salami so that the pieces were bite-sized. If you’re using something larger you may want to cut the pieces in half.

The key to this recipe is the lemon zest. It is what ties the salami and marcona almonds together. I was pleasantly surprised at how compelling this combination was. 

Finish off the mixture with some fresh rosemary leaves, freshly ground pepper and a generous splash of flavorful extra-virgin olive oil. There’s no need to add salt as there’s enough salt in the salami and likely some in the marcona almonds as well.

In a perfect world, I’d recommend making this a few hours in advance and letting it sit at room temperature so the flavors may develop. No worries if you don’t have extra time as it will still be tasty.

It is so simple, but I think you might agree with me – this easy appetizer is a game-changer.

Source:  Variation on recipe from Bon Appétit, November, 2018