Chef Graziella
Arancini alla Siciliana
Golden fried rice balls from Sicily, where Arab culinary influence meets Italian home cooking. The saffron-perfumed rice conceals a heart of slow-simmered ragù and sweet peas.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Spiedini di Mozzarella e Pomodoro
Created by
The beloved Caprese combination arranged on skewers for easy eating at gatherings. Three ingredients, no cooking, and a reminder that Italian food is about selection, not complication.
Appetizers & Snacks
Italian, Neapolitan
Potluck
Picnic
20 min
Active Time
0 min cook•20 min total
Yield12 skewers
Putting Caprese on a stick is not a revolutionary act. It is practical. Guests at a party do not want to wrestle with a knife and fork while balancing a drink and making conversation. The skewer solves this problem elegantly, and the Italians are nothing if not practical about eating.
What does not change when you thread these ingredients on wood is the fundamental truth of the combination: the quality of each component is exposed completely. There is no sauce, no heat, no technique to compensate for inferior tomatoes or rubbery cheese. You taste exactly what you bought. This is why most versions of this dish disappoint. People think the recipe is the hard part. The recipe is nothing. Finding a ripe tomato in January is hard. Finding fresh mozzarella that was made this morning, that tastes of milk rather than plastic, that is hard.
These are summer skewers. Serve them when tomatoes are in season, when basil grows faster than you can use it, when the sun warms the fruit on the plate. In winter, make something else.
The pairing of tomato, mozzarella, and basil on Capri dates to the early 20th century, though fishermen and farmers along the Campanian coast had combined these ingredients for much longer. Skewering them is a more recent adaptation, born in the 1970s and 1980s when Italian aperitivo culture embraced finger foods that could be eaten while standing at a bar.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bocconcini
Quantity
24 (about 1 pound)
small fresh mozzarella balls
cherry tomatoes
Quantity
24
ripe, at room temperature
fresh basil leaves
Quantity
24 large
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
finest quality
flaky sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bocconcinismall fresh mozzarella balls | 24 (about 1 pound) |
| cherry tomatoesripe, at room temperature | 24 |
| fresh basil leaves | 24 large |
| extra virgin olive oil | finest quality |
| flaky sea salt | to taste |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wooden or bamboo skewers (6-inch)
- •Large serving platter
Instructions
- 1
Assess your ingredients
Before you begin, taste a tomato. Is it sweet, acidic, bursting with summer? If it tastes like nothing, these skewers will taste like nothing. The bocconcini should be soft and milky, packed in whey or water, never shrink-wrapped in plastic. The basil should smell peppery and green when you rub a leaf between your fingers. Three ingredients. No hiding places.
Cold mozzarella tastes like cold rubber. Remove the bocconcini from refrigeration 30 minutes before assembling. They should be cool, not cold. - 2
Prepare the components
Drain the bocconcini and pat them dry with a clean towel. Moisture on the cheese will repel the olive oil. Rinse and dry the cherry tomatoes. Select basil leaves of similar size. If your leaves are very large, you may tear them, but smaller whole leaves look more elegant on the skewer.
- 3
Thread the skewers
Working with one skewer at a time, thread a cherry tomato first, pushing it toward the bottom. Fold a basil leaf in half and thread it next. Follow with a bocconcino. Repeat the sequence: tomato, basil, mozzarella. Each skewer should hold two tomatoes and two bocconcini with basil between. The order matters for how the skewer rests on the plate.
Wooden skewers work well for a rustic presentation. For parties, small bamboo picks or even sturdy rosemary stems stripped of their leaves add elegance and fragrance. - 4
Arrange and dress
Lay the assembled skewers on a large platter in neat rows or a casual pile, as you prefer. The presentation should look abundant but not chaotic. Drizzle generously with your finest olive oil. The oil should glisten on every surface. Scatter flaky salt over all and grind fresh pepper. This is not the moment for restraint with the oil. It is the dressing, the sauce, the binding element.
- 5
Serve promptly
These skewers are at their best within 30 minutes of assembly. The tomatoes weep, the basil wilts, the mozzarella begins to dry. Make them, dress them, serve them. If you must wait, keep them covered and cool but not refrigerated, and dress with oil only at the moment of serving.
Chef Tips
- •Bocconcini means 'little mouthfuls.' They are mozzarella shaped into balls roughly the size of an egg. Ciliegine, even smaller, work beautifully if your tomatoes are on the smaller side. Match the proportions.
- •If you cannot find quality bocconcini, buy a ball of fresh mozzarella and tear it into pieces. The irregular shapes have charm and catch the olive oil in their crevices.
- •For a picnic, transport the undressed skewers in a single layer on a sheet pan covered with plastic. Carry the olive oil, salt, and pepper separately. Dress only when you arrive.
Advance Preparation
- •The skewers can be assembled up to two hours ahead and refrigerated, covered. Remove 20 minutes before serving to take the chill off. Dress with oil, salt, and pepper only at serving time.
- •Once dressed, serve within 30 minutes. There is no saving this dish for tomorrow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 75g)
Calories
130 calories
Total Fat
11 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
22 mg
Sodium
240 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
7 g
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