Pinzimonio

This Italian snack is a great way to enjoy fresh, seasonal vegetables. The raw vegetables are dipped in a mixture of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then eaten right away.


Though pinzimonio can be made with pretty much any plant-like food, I think the two most common are fennel and celery. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the celery, but fennel in olive oil is fantastic. I also like to use carrots, radishes, and broccoli (the broccoli leaves are particularly good at soaking up the olive oil - yum!)

This dish works great as an appetizer or as a quick snack when you don't have time/energy to cook.

You will need:
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Vegetables of your choosing. Long, stick-like vegetables are best as they can easily be dipped in the olive oil. The word pinzimonio is supposedly a combination of the words pinzare ("to pinch") and matrimonio ("marriage") - you pinch the vegetable between your fingers and marry it with the olive oil mixture to form a delicious snack!

Wash the vegetables and prepare as necessary (trim, peel, etc.). If using fennel, use only the bulb part, and cut it into quarters. Mix the olive oil with the salt and pepper, and arrange the vegetable slices around the olive oil for easy dipping.


Enjoy! If you end up with extra olive oil, just soak it up with some nice crusty bread.