Antipasti Platter (Plus How to Upgrade Trader Joe's $10.99 Platter)

What goes on an antipasti platter

A good antipasti platter covers six things: cured meats, cheese, vegetables, olives, something to spread and some kind of cracker or bread.

• Cured meats: two or three Italian meats, such as calabrese salami, prosciutto and capocollo. A mixed deli pack covers all three in one package.
• Cheese: pair one fresh cheese, like mozzarella balls, with one firm cheese you can slice or cube.
• Vegetables: roasted red peppers, stuffed peppers, marinated artichoke hearts or sun-dried tomatoes, plus something fresh like cucumbers for crunch.
• Olives: any mix you like. Castelvetrano olives are mild and buttery, so they please most guests.
• A spread: a pesto, tapenade or bruschetta topping in a small bowl.
• Crackers or bread: crackers, breadsticks or a sliced baguette.

Finish with fresh basil. It adds green to a board that's mostly red, and it smells like an Italian kitchen.

Ingredients

Here's what I used on my platter. The quantities I used from each package are in the recipe card below. Note: I typically use just partial ingredients then refill the board as ingredients dwindle.

• Italian deli meats: calabrese salami, prosciutto and capocollo. I used Daniele's Gourmet Deli Selection from Trader Joe's, which has all three in one 6-ounce pack.
• Marinated mozzarella balls: bite-size mozzarella in herbs and oil. Mine is Marketside Sundried Tomato Marinated Mozzarella that I picked up from Walmart.
• Trader Joe's Tres Leches cheese: a firm Spanish cheese made from cow, sheep and goat milk. It's a limited-time item, so Manchego or aged provolone works just as well.
• Fire-roasted red bell peppers: from a jar in my pantry. You can find these at most grocery stores.
• Stuffed honey peppers: mild peppers filled with garlic cream cheese. Mine are Specially Selected from Aldi.
• Mini cucumbers: sliced, and most grocery stores sell these.
• Grilled green olives: I used Trader Joe's Grilled Pitted Chalkidiki Green Olives, but any olives will work so choose your favorite.
• Trader Joe's Organic Roasted Red Pepper and Almond Pesto Sauce: for spreading.
• Trader Joe's Fig & Olive Crisps: or any sturdy cracker.
• Fresh basil: for garnish.

How to make an antipasti platter

1. Prep the wet ingredients: Drain the roasted peppers and pat them dry with paper towels, then slice them into strips. I find it helpful to place them in a colander and let them drain while I prep the other ingredients, then pat them dry. (If you're using plain mozzarella balls, you can drain and pat these dry, too, if you prefer. I used a marinated version so I placed them in a bowl for this board. Same goes for the olives.)

2. Place the bowls. Spoon the pesto, olives, and mozzarella into small bowls and set them on the board first, spaced apart. It's easiest to place these first and fill everything else in around them.

3. Add the cheeses. Place the Tres Leches cheese near one of the bowls on the opposite side of the mozzarella.

4. Add the meats. Fold the calabrese into quarters and roll or fold the capocollo. For the prosciutto, I folded each piece into thirds with the fat layer on the top, then "pinched" the bottom to help keep them in place before setting each piece on the board. Each meat should be in its own section.

5. Add the peppers and cucumbers. Place the roasted pepper strips and stuffed peppers next to the meats and cheeses. Fan the sliced cucumbers into an open spot (I like to curve these around a bowl).

6. Add the crackers. Add the fig & olive crisps along the edges.

7. Garnish. Add fresh basil leaves around the board, especially next to the red peppers for a gorgeous color contrast.

How to upgrade Trader Joe's $10.99 Antipasti Platter

For $16.84 in add-ons, the Trader Joe's Antipasti Platter becomes a full board for 6 to 8 people. The platter comes prosciutto, peppered salami, salami nuggets, calabrese nuggets, Castelvetrano olives and provolone, and it feeds about 3 to 5 on its own. What it's missing is more cheese, crackers, something sweet and something fresh.

Here's what I added, all from Trader Joe's:

That works out to about $3.48 to $4.64 per person. The Boursin and cheddar give you three cheeses in different textures, the fig butter balances the salty meats, and the pear and rosemary make it look homemade.

The biggest upgrade is free: move everything off the plastic tray and onto a real board.

For more shopping ideas, see my Trader Joe's charcuterie boards at four price points.

Prices are what I paid and may vary by store. Serving counts are estimates.

Tips for the best antipasti platter

• Dry everything that comes in liquid. Roasted peppers, mozzarella and olives all bring oil or brine with them, which makes crackers soggy. A quick pat with a paper towel fixes it. You can also opt to serve them in little bowls to contain the liquid.
• Take the cheese out early. Firm cheeses taste better after about 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Make it ahead. Arrange everything except the crackers and basil up to a few hours early, then cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Add the crackers and basil just before serving.
• Don't leave it out too long. Keep the platter out for no more than 2 hours, then refrigerate the leftovers. If I know the board will be out longer than that, I'll build a smaller board and refill the ingredients as they empty.
• Store leftovers separately. Wrap the meats and cheeses separately and return the peppers and olives to their jars.