(Photo: Hannah Whitaker)

HORS D’OEUVRE FOR A DOZEN
Elettaria | Chef-owner Akhtar Nawab

The Menu
• Baby artichokes with capers, sumac, and pine nuts
• Chilled cavatelli salad with roasted tomatoes and fava-bean pesto
• Shaved bresaola with thyme honey, almonds, and arugula
• Chilled crab salad with mango, basil seeds, and tamarind vinaigrette
• Watermelon slide cocktail

“We came up with baby artichokes, capers, sumac, and pine nuts (1); sumac has great acidity but doesn’t add a lemon or lime taste. Clean the artichokes a couple of days ahead and keep them in lemon water. The chilled cavatelli salad with fava-bean pesto (2) calls for roasted tomatoes, but you could chop up heirloom or cherry tomatoes and toss them in raw. Ten to twelve passes with a knife will pulverize the pesto if you don’t have a food processor, but store-bought basil or walnut pesto works, too. Salumeria Biellese is the best in town for the bresaola (3). Any good lump crab (4) will work in the salad, but you can substitute shrimp, too. To drink, my partner Noel Cruz picked the Watermelon Slide (5) with light rum, lime, and black-mint syrup. Take everything out of the fridge a couple of hours before guests arrive.”

Related:

• Archive: “Food Features”
• Articles by Alexandra Vallis
• Table of Contents: Jul 13, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!