San Francisco Salami Celebration!
In honor of San Francisco hosting the Super Bowl, we’ve whipped up a Salami Celebration featuring 4 different easy salami appetizers!
It’s Friday before the Super Bowl, and we are wrapping up our appetizer countdown to the big game. But before we do…it’s time to feature a San Francisco-inspired appetizer that will look great on your gameday appetizer table! Actually, today’s feature will include 4 different bite-size bits, and all of them are quite simple to make.
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What sort of food do you think of when you think about San Francisco? Some might say Rice-a-roni. Others might suggest sourdough bread. But did you know that San Francisco is also home to Columbus Foods…a company that has been making different styles of artisan salami for almost 100 years! Each of today’s appetizers includes various products made by Columbus. Enjoy!
Salami Crostini
Bruschetta is an incredibly simple appetizer to make, and it typically uses a piece of toast as the base. However, this version uses pieces of salami that have been crisped in the oven. Incredibly easy to make…and even easier to eat!
Salami Crostini
Ingredients
- 24 pieces of salami sliced thinly (I used Columbus’ pre-sliced Italian Dry Salame)
- 10 cherry tomatoes or 1-2 medium tomatoes, sliced into small pieces
- 8-10 basil leaves chopped
Instructions
- Place the salami on a lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes, or until crispy.
- Combine the tomatoes and basil in a small dish and mix well.
- Place a small amount of the tomato/basil mix on each salami and serve.
Salami Jalapeno Poppers
For this recipe, I crumbled up pieces of salami that had been crisped in the oven and used them to finish these delicious jalapeno halves.
Salami Jalapeno Poppers
Ingredients
- 12-14 medium jalapenos halved with seeds and veins removed
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 6-7 slices Columbus Salami
Instructions
- Place the slices of salami on a lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until crispy.
- Meanwhile, place the cream cheese and mozzarella in a small bowl and mix until well combined.
- Fill the jalapeno halves with the cheese mixture.
- Once the salami is crispy, pat the pieces dry and crumble into bite-sized pieces.
- Top each jalapeno with a small amount of crumbled salami.
- Place jalapenos on lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for 28-20 minutes, or until cheese mixture turns golden brown.
- Serve warm.
Pigskin Salami Bites
These bite-sized treats are easy to make, and kids love to help pipe the laces onto the “footballs”!
Tip: An easy way to cut football shaped pieces is to cut a round piece using a round cookie cutter. Then cut approximately half of the round off using the round cookie cutter again. This should leave you with a small football-shaped piece!
Tip: Save any salami scraps that you might have from this recipe…they are great toppers on jalapeno poppers or homemade pizza!
Pigskin Salami Bites
Ingredients
- 8 slices sourdough bread
- 16 slices Columbus Salami
- ⅓ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Slice the sourdough bread into football shaped pieces. (I was able to get 2 football pieces out of each slice.)
- Toast these pieces for about 3-4 minutes, or until slightly crispy
- Meanwhile, cut the salami into football shaped pieces.
- Place a piece of salami on each piece of toast.
- Fill a sandwich bag with sour cream. Cut a small tip off of the corner, and pipe laces onto each piece.
Turkey and Swiss Mini-Paninis
Since San Francisco is also famous for its sourdough bread, I used sourdough for these mini-paninis. (If you like to bake, stay tuned to Spiced in the next couple of weeks as we are planning a post on making your own sourdough bread!)
In addition to their artisan salami, Columbus also has sliced deli-meat. I used the Honey Roasted Turkey Breast for these, and they turned out great!
Turkey and Swiss Mini-Paninis
Ingredients
- 6 slices sourdough bread
- 6 ounces sliced turkey I used Columbus’ Honey Roasted Turkey Breast
- 6 slices Swiss cheese
- Butter
Instructions
- Preheat grill pan on stovetop.
- Butter each slice of sourdough bread.
- Place the buttered side down and top with deli meat and cheese.
- Place 2nd piece of bread on top, buttered side up.
- Carefully place each sandwich onto the preheated grill pan.
- Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes per side.
- Remove from pan and slice each sandwich into quarters. Serve warm.
Even though Columbus Salame is based out of San Francisco, their products can be found all over the country. I live in upstate New York, and I was happy to discover that several stores in the area carry Columbus products! Check out their store finder.
Disclosure: Columbus Foods provided product for this post, but all opinions expressed are those of the author.
30 minutes is way to long to cook the crostini. Mine turned into burnt hockey pucks but luckily I have more salami and a few more hours before the super bowl.
I’m sorry to hear that, Kevin, but I’m glad you had a backup. As I’m looking at this recipe again after a few years, I realized that the thickness of crostini would make a huge difference in the cooking time. Thanks for letting me know, and I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl last night!