Sausage, Red Pepper & Melting Mozzarella Kebabs
Introduction
Serves: Serves 6 (Makes 16)
Ingredients
150g (5 oz) bocconcini mozzarella, drained and patted dry
2 large red peppers (bell peppers / capsicums)
6 fresh chorizo sausages
Dried rosemary stalks (to use as skewers)
3 large red onions
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp crushed coriander seeds
8 fresh bay leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Oil
Salad
4 cups trimmed rocket leaves (arugula)
1 small cos (romaine) lettuce, broken into bite-sized pieces
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1½ Tbsp red wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp creamy Dijonnaise mustard
2 Tbsp capers, drained
Small bamboo skewers soaked in cold water for 30 minutes
Method
1 Make up eight skewers of bread and mozzarella. Slice bread in half through the middle. Cut mozzarella balls into small cubes and cut bread to same size. Combine bread and cheese to make small ‘sandwiches’ (i.e. bread, mozzarella and bread). Spear carefully onto skewers.
2 Cut peppers in half, remove core and seeds, then cut each half into eighths. Slice each sausage into 5-6 pieces each. Make up eight dried rosemary skewers with sausages and red peppers (use a metal skewer to make an initial hole through sausages and peppers, then pierce with rosemary stalks.)
3 Peel and cut red onions into pieces through the roots. Mix in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, coriander seeds, bay leaves and plenty of black pepper. Cook onions on a barbecue hot plate (griddle) until lightly golden.
4 Cook the sausage and red pepper skewers first over medium heat on a lightly oiled barbecue hot plate. These will take about 20 minutes to cook through; don’t hurry the process or you’ll end up with raw sausage in the middle.
5 Once the sausage and red pepper skewers are done, barbecue the bread and cheese skewers. Either cook them in the fat left on the hotplate, or scrape it clean and oil it again (your call; they take on a nice flavour from the sausages). Depending on the type of mozzarella, it will either melt very quickly, in which case you have to watch them carefully, or it will melt more slowly and you’ll be able to get the bread a good golden colour; in any event, the kebabs will be delicious.
6 Arrange rocket and cos leaves on a large platter. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, garlic, vinegar, salt and mustard. Add capers. Spoon cooked onions onto salad and add dressing. Toss lightly, then top with kebabs. Serve immediately.
Recipe notes
To make rosemary stalks strong enough to use as skewers, choose thick stalks and leave them to dry for a day or two in the sun or at room temperature. Use a metal skewer to make an initial hole through the food, then slip the rosemary skewer through – that’s much easier than trying to force a blunt stalk of rosemary through dense food!
