Katherine Lewin, founder of NYC-based dinner party shop Big Night, is visiting the TODAY Food team to share some of her fun and easy entertaining recipes from her cookbook, “Big Night: Dinners, Parties, and Dinner Parties: A Cookbook” and expert tips on how to set up a DIY spritz bar. She shows us how to make fresh summer tomatoes with briny tonnato sauce, creamy burrata cheese with snap peas and prosciutto, citrus marinated olives with garlic and customizable spritz sippers with any kind of amaro.
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DIY Spritz Bar
At this point, people are pretty familiar with the Aperol Spritz. But what about a Cappeletti Spritz? A Lillet Spritz? An Averna Spritz? So many aperitifs make for absolutely delicious spritzes, and the potential of a Spritz Bar is limitless. Here’s what you need to set one up:
2 to 4 bottles of different amari (these are your spritz bases)Several bottles of quality prosecco (each bottle will yield about 7 spritzes)Plenty of good-quality seltzerLots and lots of icePrepped Castelvetrano olives and lemon or orange strips, for garnishAn ice bucket to keep the prosecco and seltzer cold (if not, just keep them in the fridge)
This is the best, most sparkling kind of DIY moment to get pretty much any party started!
When the tomatoes are as good as they are in the peak of summer, you really could just slice them thickly, season with flaky salt, pepper and good olive oil, and call it a dish. But here’s one way to make them even more divine: add a drizzle of tonnato, or “tuna sauce” in Italian. But let’s call it by its Italian name, because “tuna sauce” really undersells this umami-laden, rich and creamy, bright and zesty tomato pairing.
Good burrata cheese is one of those ingredients that asks so little of us. It’s perfect on its own, which is exactly why I’m not going to give you yet another burrata recipe. I will, however, use this space to remind you that a couple of balls of burrata, plus a couple of simple toppings, makes for a never-fail starter. Here’s some inspiration for serving it in every season.
In my house, olives are welcomed, loved and appreciated in any and every appetizer spread. They’re the little black dress of snacks — they work for any occasion and go with everything. All you really need to take a tub of olives from grocery store to glam is a great serving vessel, a drizzle of good olive oil, a few cracks of black pepper and lemon zest. But if you have a bit of extra time or foresight, you should absolutely marinate them.
This recipe is flexible, so if you’re missing an ingredient, don’t sweat it. You can even skip the cheese altogether, although that’s an easy way to fill out this dish and make it a heartier appetizer, especially when you add crusty bread.
Memorize this combination: 2, 4, splash. That’s amaro, bubbles and seltzer, respectively, and now you’re on your way to a lifetime of perfect spritzes. It’s such a short ingredient list that all three of them really matter, as do the ice and the glassware.
If you like those dinner party-perfect recipes, you should also try these:
Dining and Cooking