Behold the Power of Cheese

I brought back over 1 kilo of Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy. It is such a beautiful thing, a giant wheel of cheese. Probably my favorite part of Italy was aparativo. Basically aparativo is happy hour, but in a much better way than we do it here in the US. You buy one glass of wine and then there is a large free antipasto buffet. Delicious!

Parmigiano Antipasto Platter

Parmigiano-Reggiano, flaked into bite size pieces
Assorted dried meats and sausage: prochutto, ham, salami etc
Olives
Marinated and roasted vegetables: roasted red peppers, mushrooms, oven-roasted tomatoes
Crusty Italian bread
Dark Italian Pine Honey

Cut all of the ingredients into bit size pieces and arrange them rustically across the table. The honey with the bread and cheese is divine!