These Italian Appetizers were inspired an Italian Tortellini Salad my family adores, and by the Antipasto Kabobs I saw on The Hungry Housewife. If you love olives, check out her recipe. I am not a fan of olives so I changed things up a bit. These make a great finger food for a party or gathering. They can be assembled the night before and they add a pop of color to any table. If you are looking for Family Friendly Recipes to please a crowd, you'll want to try these Tortellini Salad Skewers.
Ingredients for 75 Tortellini Salad Skewers:
- 75 pieces cooked cheese tortellini
- 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
- 75 tomatoes sliced in half
- 40 slices of salami cut in half
- 75 slices of pepperoni
- 25 mozzarella balls cut into thirds and sprinkled with salt to taste
- 75 Skewers
Before you begin, cook the cheese tortellini according to package directions. Drain and mix with 1 cup of balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Refrigerate for two hours and then drain the rest of the dressing. My tortellini soaked up much of the dressing so there wasn't much left for me to drain.
For each Italian appetizer, you will need 1 skewer, 1 grape tomato sliced in half, ½ slice of salami, 1 marinated cheese tortellini, 1 slice pepperoni, and ⅓ of a mozzarella ball. We found the mozzarella balls needed a little bit of salt to taste, so we salted them after we cut them up.
Then it's just a matter of assembly. This works best if you have the ingredients cut up and laid out already. Start by skewering one end of a grape tomato, then add half a slice of folded salami, the tortellini, a slice of folded pepperoni, ⅓ of a cheese ball, and the other half of the grape tomato.
These Italian appetizers make a great finger food and hold up pretty well when served. My sat out for close to 3 hours and were still tasty. Next time I make them I will add basil. The basil in my yard was looking pretty yellow so I skipped it, but it would add flavor and color and make these more like a Caprese salad.
For more Italian family friendly recipes check out:
Easy Italian Rice Italian Sausage and Pepper Sandwichh
Vicky @ Mess For Less
Alex, ours were about 4-5 inches long but I felt like they were a little small. I just used what i had on hand. I think 6 inch skewers would probably work best.