Almost anything on the antipasto table can--and does--show up in other parts of the meal, with the exception of the vinegar- or oil-preserved vegetables known, respectively, as sott'aceti and sott'olii. The F&W staff sampled more than 35 varieties of these marinated vegetable antipasti from 15 manufacturers. Here's what we liked best.
ALL AROUND WINNERS: Colavita and Il Cibo di Lidia.
ONIONS: Il Cibo di Lidia's grilled onions in olive oil; Bacchini's Cipollette (little onions in balsamic vinegar); and Azienda Agricola's Scalogno (shallots in olive oil).
ARTICHOKES: Il Cibo di Lidia's grilled artichokes in olive oil; Colavita's artichokes with stems in sunflower oil; De Giorgi's Roman artichokes; and Il Trullo's split grilled artichokes.
EGGPLANT: Il Cibo di Lidia's dried eggplants in olive oil; TuttoCalabria's Italian roasted eggplants; and Terrabianca's grilled eggplants.
SUN-DRIED TOMATOES: California Sun-Dry and Pumate San Remo.
MIXED VEGETABLES: Terrabianca's vegetables and peppers with truffles; Dalce's antipasto; Colavita's antipasto in sunflower oil and peperonata in olive oil; and Il Trullo's zucchini.
WHERE TO GET THEM: Il Cibo di Lidia products are available by catalog only (800-480-2426); Colavita and other brands are sold in supermarkets or specialty stores. Many of our favorites can be ordered from Balducci's (800-225-3822) and Dean & DeLuca (212-226-6800) in New York City and Vivande Porta Via in San Francisco (415-346-4430).
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