We recently had dinner catered by Tinwings, in Nashville, TN. For appetizers, they brought antipasto skewers and everyone loved them. Today’s recipe was inspired by this tasty treat and the crowd (meaning the StyleBlueprint Team’s) reaction.
Yes, you can scoop some hummus onto a cake stand, and top it with some ingredients and please a crowd. But, if you are thinking charcuterie board, but questioning that decision, antipasto skewers are a good next thought.
Personally, I’m a little over the tightly packed charcuterie boards that make for a great Instagram post, but are really hard to navigate in real time. Salami flowers are pretty, but how does one pull a slice out of that tightly rolled configuration? Sometimes, the amount of hands I see all over those boards make me decide not to partake. Anyone else?
With skewers, you still use your hands, but you pick up your individualized portion, place it on a plate, and walk away. So much easier!
These are made with a grouping of ingredients that you can change to your liking. Prefer not to have olives? Then … don’t use olives. Vegetarian? Don’t use salami. Gluten-free? Ixnay the tortellini.
You can make these right before they are needed, or a a day in advance. Better yet, for occasions with many hands wanting to help, place bowls of ingredients down on a table and have a few people tackle these. These are easy to make while talking and catching up.
And, per usual, I had all my groceries delivered via Kroger’s Boost Membership, where I get free delivery in as little as two hours, and I get 2x fuel points! Kroger sponsors our recipes, but I use their house brand products and delivery services because they work.
When you are spearing the ingredients, some may fall off. It’s okay, just keep going. So you dropped a tortellini β all the more room for a bigger tomato!
Things to keep in mind:
- Cut your mini mozzarella balls in half.
- Cut your blue cheese stuffed olives in half.
- Cut your hard salami in half, and then fold it.
- I bought pre-roasted bell peppers to make it extra easy.
- Find your bamboo 3.5-inch cocktail skewers in the picnic section of Kroger, where toothpicks are found. They are called “Kroger bamboo picks.”
- Serve these with the knotted site of the bamboo pick on the outside of the tray, to make it easier for guests to pick them up.
- When I cooked the tortellini, I mixed the oil from the marinated artichokes in with them as they cooled to give them more flavor.
- You can use plain mini mozzarella balls or the ones with herbs.
- Fresh basil leaves really go the extra mile in giving these a bright, fresh punch.
- As said before, several hands make these come together much faster. Even kids can do this.
- You can drizzle reduced balsamic vinegar or a thin pesto on top if you’d like. Or, you can serve with a size of pesto for dipping.
- All leftover ingredients can be made into this yummy Charcuterie Board Pasta recipe.
Antipasto Skewers
Ingredients
- 8 oz BelGioioso mini mozzarella balls There are 24 in each container; cut them in half
- 4 oz Boar's Head hard salami There are usually 20 slices, so cut in half, you'll have 40 for your skewers. If you want salami for every skewer, you'll need to cut them into quarters and use more on some than others.
- 20 leaves fresh basil Cut the larger leaves in half.
- 15 blue cheese stuffed olives Cut in half, this is 30 pieces. For the skewers without these, use Kalamata olives
- 20 Kalamata olives
- 1 jar roasted red peppers cut these into small pieces
- 50 pieces fresh cheese tortellini, cooked Find these in the fresh pasta section at Kroger or your local grocery store.
- 25 small red grape tomatoes
- 25 small yellow grape tomatoes
- 1 12 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts cut these into small pieces, but large enough to skewer. Use the oil to toss in with the cooked tortellini.
- 12 picked okra, cut into smaller pieces 3-5 pieces per okra, depending on the size
- 50 bamboo picks Find these in Kroger's paper plate section, where the toothpicks are
Optional:
- reduced balsamic vinegar or thinned out pesto to drizzle on top once finished
- side of pesto, for dipping
Instructions
- Place each ingredient in a separate bowl or container.
- Use an olive, or salami, or tomato as the first ingredients on as it cushions the other ingredients from breaking against the knotted end of the bamboo pick.
- Load the bamboo pick with ingredients. Don't be afraid to press the ingredients together to fit more on the pick.
- I like to end mine with a half ball of mozzarella.
- Serve on a platter, knotted side facing out.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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For more 20 recipes that feed a crowd, be sure to check out our Recipes: Feed a Crowd section!
