Summer Happy Hour

August 15th is almost here: the perfect occasion to celebrate summer with all your friends and family. With high temperature of the hottest weeks of the year and congested roads, celebrate summer at home seems to be the best idea, for a happy hour in your garden. You just need to prepare something to eat together and a refreshing cocktail, with some fresh fruit. What you should not miss is: originality.

Our suggestion? Prepare your appetizer using seasonal ingredients. Result? Lot of fresh and colourful snacks that will charm all your guests’ palates.  Here four recipes to prepare the best summer happy hour ever!

#1 Mini Chicken Sandwich with red pepper sauce

sandwich pollo

Our first idea for a tasty summer snack is the mini sandwiches with red pepper sauce: a simple but delicious recipe. Which ingredients do you need?  Wholemeal sandwich bread, sliced chicken breast, iceberg salad, Lazzaris red pepper sauce, salt and pepper.

Just a few steps and your mini sandwiches will be ready. Start your preparation browning the chicken in a pan with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, wash the salad and cut it into thin strips. Once the chicken is ready, you can start to make your sandwich. First of all, spread a generous layer of red pepper sauce on the slice of bread, lay down one or more slices of chicken as you wish. Complete with a layer of iceberg salad and close your sandwich with another slice of wholemeal bread. You will obtain a regular sandwich, you’ll need to cut it into mini portions which will be perfect for your happy hour. Cut every sandwich into 4 small triangles, cutting diagonally from a vertex to another.

#2 Croutons with ricotta cheese and onion sauce

crostini cipolla

Second idea for your Happy Hour: croutons with ricotta cheese and Lazzaris onion sauce. This is a very simple and fast recipe too, a perfect vegetarian dish among your offer.

To prepare the croutons with ricotta and onion sauce you’ll need a load of bread, better with a crunchy crust, cow ricotta cheese and a pot of Lazzaris onion sauce. Slice the loaf of bread and toast the slices on the grill. Meanwhile, put the ricotta into a bowl and stir until creamy. When the bread is ready add a drizzle of olive oil and flavour with salt and pepper. Add the onion sauce and there you have it.

#3 Carpaccio of smoked tuna with orange sauce

carpaccio-tonno

Your buffet must have at least one seafood dish: an excellent smoked tuna carpaccio, fresh and summery, to be paired with Lazzaris orange sauce. A very simple recipe, where cooking is not even expected!

Choose some top-quality smoked tuna carpaccio and add a few more ingredients: fresh rocket salad, a pinch of pepper and orange sauce. In a big platter place the rocket, and lay down the sliced tuna carpaccio. Add some extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of pepper and a generous portion of orange sauce.

We suggest to prepare in advance your carpaccio, this allows the fish to fully absorb the orange flavour.

#4 Focaccia with raw ham and fig sauce

Focaccia prosciutto crudo

An excellent idea for your summer happy hour: focaccia with raw ham and Lazzaris fig sauce.

It is a reinterpretation of a classic pairing, enriched with the spicy taste of Lazzaris sauce with mustard and chili peppers.

Which ingredients do you need? Raw ham and fig sauce are the essential ingredients, if you wish you can add mozzarella cheese or rocket salad. If you don’t have enough time, you can buy your focaccia at the bakery, otherwise you can prepare it at home, to get an even more original result.

 

Come si prepara la focaccia fatta in casa?

Here the ingredients you need:

  • 400 gr of regular flour
  • 10 gr of fresh yeast
  • 100 ml of whole milk
  • 80 ml of extra virgin olive oil
  • 100 ml of water
  • An overfilled teaspoon of salt
  • A pinch of sugar

In a large bowl mix the flour with the yeast, adding a bit of water in order for the ingredients to amalgamate. Begin to knead, adding milk, the rest of water, salt, sugar and oil. Beat the mixture until you get a homogeneous batter. Transfer the batter in a larger bowl, to allow the double leavening. Let the mixture rest for 3 hours at room temperature for the first leavening, then put the mixture in your refrigerator for almost 10 hours for the second leavening.

After the leavening, you can roll the dough out on an oiled pastry board. Heat the oven to 220°, bake your focaccia for 12 or 13 minutes, until golden brown.

Your focaccia is now ready, and you can garnish it and cut it for your summer Happy Hour!