Appetizer: Tomato and Mozzarella Skewers with Basil Oil

Earlier today we told you about our cocktail party strategy of sticking to two or three dishes (rather than eight or nine) that look bountiful and feed a crowd. This is one we just served: tomato skewers piled high on a platter, dressed up with a little basil oil that takes two minutes to make.

We're basically taking a caprese salad and putting it on a stick, and no doubt you've seen a variation of these skewers on a buffet or two in your day. But they really are hard not to like, and they couldn't be easier to throw together.

We bought bocconcini, bite-sized mozzarella balls, to make the process even quicker, but you could also cut a big ball of mozzarella into chunks. On each skewer, we put three grape tomatoes and one piece of cheese.

For the basil oil, we blended a couple of handfuls of fresh basil leaves in a blender with enough olive oil to make it fluid and creamy. We put it through a strainer, thinking we'd get clear green oil on the other end, but most of the basil bits came through the sieve. Next time we won't bother with that step; the bits of basil are a nice pop of color anyway.

Because we were transporting this platter to another location for the party, we put our basil oil in a squeeze bottle and squirted it on once we got there. Done!

(Images: Elizabeth Passarella)

Had these at a party last night, and they were lovely - with one thing: some of them had been made a bit too long, and so getting the pieces off was a little difficult, and the cheese was a bit big for one bite. Great idea, but make sure when in doubt go smaller!

posted by TannerAdair on April 17th 2009 at 3:43pm
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Sounds yummy! Thanks for posting.

posted by atxgirl on April 17th 2009 at 3:44pm
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I have never seen this idea before, but it is BRILLIANT. Just the other day i was trying to think of an easier way to serve caprese salad at a party, and this is THE solution!

posted by kittystockings on April 17th 2009 at 3:57pm
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I love caprese salad and these are lovely. I am certainly going to steal this idea for a party in the near future.

posted by Niamh on April 17th 2009 at 5:32pm
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Yummy. Add a baguette and that was my lunch today!

http://embritadesign.blogspot.com

posted by EmmieB on April 17th 2009 at 6:48pm
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Gorgeous photo.

posted by EasilyAmused on April 17th 2009 at 9:57pm
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I make these for cocktail parties or as apps pretty often. I make them a little smaller since like @Tanner Adair mentioned, on a skewer they can be hard to eat. I buy the marinated mozzarella balls from a local Italian deli which has bits of basil leaves and tomatoes already mixed in. I slide one mozzarella ball and just one cherry/grape tomato with a bit of basil sandwiched between the two onto a long toothpick. Delicious and simple. Great post!

posted by nithya at hungrydesi on April 18th 2009 at 12:50pm
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Love it. I've done them on toothpicks (just big enough for tomato-cheese-tomato) which might be a bit easier to eat...

posted by maggie (p/c) on April 18th 2009 at 10:04pm
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I took these to a potluck brunch. I used a short skewer with just one tomato and one piece of cheese. The mozzarella balls were small -- a single bite. I served them with a small bowl of pesto. Everyone was snatched up right away. Tasty and pretty!

posted by mdorothy on April 19th 2009 at 7:26pm
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Forget party. I just saw the salad for dinner tonight! :-) Party of two!

posted by Bee T. on April 20th 2009 at 7:30am
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Seriously brilliant

posted by cweingarten on April 20th 2009 at 7:50am
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these are excellent! a local restaurant serves them during a downtown summer food festival here, with the addition of the basil leaves sandwiched between as mentioned above, and it's always a must-stop!

posted by mspants on April 20th 2009 at 4:03pm
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I got this from an Italian caterer, we make this a lot as appetizers and it is always a big hit.

On toothpicks we skewer a small piece of mozzarella (baby is best), a half of a cherry tomato and a single black olive. we put these on a deep tray and drench them with pesto sauce to which we add a lot of olive oil to make it more flowing...

this comes out bite size and delicious! this tray always empties out early...

posted by meshel on April 26th 2009 at 4:14pm
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I love this but with bocconcini cheese : sooo delicious !

posted by Simone3 on October 21st 2009 at 2:15pm
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