Tapas for dinner - not Antipasto!

Just last week we were wondering what to have for dinner. We had been eating out quite a bit and The Lovely Wife and the kids were quite fed up with going out to the same local eateries. I was too but sometimes it's just quicker and easier especially when we've been having rather busy weekends.

My son asked if we could just stay home and not go out and all four of us were tossing up what to have for dinner. I decided to make it into a little bit of a fun event and I bundled the two kids into the car for a trip to the local supermarket. I said the plan was to have lots of different things to eat and we'd sit and chat while we enjoyed the food - kind of like a Tapas meal.





Before going to the supermarket, we popped in to the local bakery where we bought some Ciabatta and Rustica breads. In the supermarket, I picked up some fresh prawns, then while glancing in the Frozen Food section, I remembered how I used to love fish fingers when I was young. The Kids hadn't had fish fingers in the longest time either so I picked up a pack. We all love sausages and I tossed in a pack of Victoria Crest Lamb and Beef Merquez sausages. My mind was visualising the platter of food and I decided the platter needed some garlic mushrooms as well as some Salami.





In my mind the platter was complete but my son suddenly asked if I could make some of my pesto as that would go really well with the bread. That caused a pack of Basil to be thrown into the shopping trolley. I knew I had some nuts at home as well as cheese so I didnt have to buy any. My princess then asked if I could make my 'special sauce' to dip the bread into. I smiled and said yes as I realised she meant a mix of Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar!




To make it 'special' I also got some canned drinks - root beer and Ice Cream soda for the kids to enjoy (and also me!). With the ingredients all ready, we headed back home and the kids played outside with The Lovely Wife while I prepared the Tapas Platter.

While the Fish Fingers were in the oven, I quickly fried the sausages then cut them up into bite sized pieced. The prawns were butterflied then cleaned before stir frying with a little garlic, pepper and salt. I heated the salami lightly to get rif of some of the oils and then let everything sit for a while as I made the pesto. To finish off I stir fried the mushrooms with garlic and oregano.



We all enjoyed the Tapas for dinner and it was a lot of fun just sitting together and munching the food slowly and savouring the different flavours.





To be honest, I actually told The Lovely Wife and the kids that we were having Antipasto but in hindsight, Antipasto is actually an appetiser as according to my friend Google, Antipasto (plural antipasti) means "before the meal" and is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal. Tapas, on the other hand, while also having its origins in being an appetiser has evolved whereby having many different tapas can be considered as a full meal. So in this case Tapas seems more appropriate!

For my Aussie readers, you may want to check out Green Olive. I'm told they have a great Tapas Menu and local Mornington Peninsular wines as well. Ahhh, how I miss Melbourne!