Name: Huge Antipasto Skewers
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 24 fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine); 24 cherry tomatoes; 24 medium fresh basil leaves; 24 slices Genoa salami, thinly sliced; 12 halves marinated artichoke hearts, halved; 24 pitted Castelvetrano olives; 24 pieces roasted red peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces; 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 1/2 tsp dried oregano; to taste flaky sea salt; to taste black pepper, freshly ground; 12 6-inch wooden or bamboo skewers

Huge Antipasto Skewers

Prep

20m

Cook

Total

20m

Bigly says

Folks. Antipasto skewers. HUGE antipasto skewers. The greatest antipasto skewers in the history of antipasto skewers — antipasto is a real Italian word, it means 'before the meal,' and the Italians invented it because they understood, correctly, that the meal before the meal is the most important meal. They were right. They're often right about food. About other things, who can say, but food, undefeated.

I've eaten this in three countries you've never heard of. I've eaten a version of this in a fishing village near Amalfi where a woman with one apron and a very serious face cornered me, made me promise to thread the skewer in a specific order, and refused to take payment when I tried to pay. She said 'no money, just remember.' I remembered. Tomato, basil, mozzarella, salami, olive, artichoke, pepper, salami, mozzarella, basil, tomato. That order. SYMMETRY. The skewer is supposed to be SYMMETRICAL — you bite from either end and you get the same experience, that's the SOUL of it, and most people skip this entirely.

These skewers are ARCHITECTURE. Every skewer is identical. Every skewer balances salty, fatty, fresh, briny. Every skewer is a HANDHELD MEDITERRANEAN VACATION. People take one bite and they immediately start booking flights to Italy — I've created an entire economic boom for Italian tourism single-handedly, the Italian government has not thanked me, sad. And the skewers come to you right now, no cookie banner with 47 unnamed advertising partners, no autoplay video about 'why this mom switched to a $90 air fryer,' no email signup popup begging for your address. Just the recipe. The way it should be. Believe me.

Ingredients

24fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine)(drain them well or your skewers slide around)
24cherry tomatoes(ripe ones, not the pale grocery store impostors)
24 mediumfresh basil leaves(fresh, never dried, dried basil is for emergencies only)
24 slicesGenoa salami, thinly sliced(fold each slice into quarters before threading)
12 halvesmarinated artichoke hearts, halved
24pitted Castelvetrano olives(Castelvetrano, the green ones, the buttery ones, the king of olives)
24 piecesroasted red peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 tbspextra-virgin olive oil
2 tbspbalsamic vinegar
1/2 tspdried oregano
to tasteflaky sea salt
to tasteblack pepper, freshly ground
126-inch wooden or bamboo skewers

Steps

1
Drain the mozzarella, olives, artichokes, and red peppers thoroughly. Pat everything dry with paper towels — wet ingredients make sad skewers.
2
Fold each salami slice in half, then in half again to create a small quartered fan shape.
3
Assemble each skewer in this order: cherry tomato, basil leaf, mozzarella ball, salami quarter, olive, artichoke half, red pepper, salami quarter, mozzarella ball, basil leaf, cherry tomato.
4
Lay the finished skewers in a single layer on a serving platter.
5
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and oregano.
6
Drizzle the dressing over the skewers just before serving.
7
Finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper over the top. Serve immediately at room temperature.

One more thing

Put these out at a party and you become a legend. A LEGEND. People take photos. They post them. Their followers comment 'wait where did you get those.' You smile. You don't answer. Mystery is power. The skewers do the talking. The skewers always do the talking. Twenty minutes of assembly, zero cooking, and you've upgraded the entire vibe of the room — the wine gets opened, the music gets louder, the strangers start talking to each other across the kitchen island. That's what a great appetizer does. It's a beautiful thing.