Sausage Cheese Shishito Skewers with Basil Honey Mustard
Three things on skewers, sausage, cheese, and shishito peppers, is all you need for a perfect bite of food! When making appetizer skewers I like to think carefully about each component on the skewer and balance the flavors and textures. On these skewers, the sausage is savory, the pepper is spicy, and the cheese is creamy. The pepper is crunchy, the sausage has a bite to it, and the cheese has a nice chewiness. These three things compliment each other perfectly, and the creamy basil honey mustard is just the sauce to bring it all together.
The inspiration for this dish
We were hosting some people for a brunch this past weekend but the few days before I knew I wouldn’t have much time to cook and the day of I wanted to spend time with everyone instead of buried in the kitchen. Georgina and I decided it would be good to have a bunch of food on big platters that everyone could just snack on while we enjoyed some drinks and the company. We had fruit and veggies, charcuterie, cheeses, and some deviled eggs, and I pre-assembled these simple skewers so I could just pull them out of the fridge and finish them on the grill for everyone.
I love the assertive flavor of shishito peppers but I honestly don’t love the way they are served most of the time, just charred and in a pile. I think they work better as part of a dish. They were great on these skewers and the whole one-in-ten is spicy thing is always a fun game of roulette. With the cheese and sausage combined with the peppers, these had a pizza flavor to them when you ate them plain, but the basil honey mustard took things in a different direction.
Making the creamy honey mustard
Just mix all the sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and set it aside. These are the ingredients
- yogurt
- mustard
- honey
- basil
- garlic
- salt and pepper
Forming the sausage, cheese, and shishito skewers
Take mini skewers and build them with a slice of pepper first, then the cheese, then the sausage. Press all the ingredients close together, and also make sure they are very similar sizes so they can brown evenly on the grill. I just broke regular skewers in half cause I couldnt find smaller ones, but you can buy some online.
Cooking the sausage cheese and shishito skewers
You could grill these, but I just put them all in a frying pan. The skewers are short enough that you can just saute them all and the sticks won’t get in the way.
Serving the sausage cheese and shishito skewers
Pile the skewers on a platter and serve! You can just serve the sauce on the side if you would rather but I had to pour some on top because food bloggers do dumb stuff sometimes for the sake of a pretty photo.
I was a huge fan of these and ate more than I should have.
A really great combo of flavors and textures! And a perfect single bite.
Twists on this recipe
I used Italian sausage but your favorite sausage would be great on here! Or your favorite pepper. I also used bread cheese but you can use any cookable cheese like queso frier or halloumi.
For more appetizer skewers, check out my Persian walnut and pomegranate skewers, or chorizo squash skewers!
Sausage Cheese Shishito Skewers with Creamy Basil Honey Mustard
Ingredients
- 2 hot Italian sausages
- 10 shishito peppers
- 12 ounces bread cheese
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 1/4 cup mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 10 basil leaves
- 1/2 clove garlic grated
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Mix the sauce ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
- Boil the sausages until fully cooked. Chill.
- Cut the sausages into half moons. Cut the cheese and shishito peppers to similar size and thickness to the sausages.
- Build the skewers with a pepper first, then the cheese, then the sausage, Pushing the flat side of the sausage up against the cheese. Press all ingredients tight together.
- Grill or cook in a hot pan for about 3 minutes per side to brown everything.
- Serve and drizzle with the sauce, or serve it on the side for dipping.
uh, the recipe doesn’t list sausage as an ingredient
Whoops, I swore it was in there before!
what is bread cheese?
Its simmilar to halloumi and can be fried or grilled and not melt.
I just discovered bread cheese a month or so ago. It comes toasted on one side already. Holds up very well to heat. Just warmed up for a few seconds in the microwave, it’s fabulous. It’s 100% the reason I clicked on this recipe. Definitely find some.
As I expected from trying your other recipes, this was AMAZING. Took me a while to find all the ingredients at stores near me, but it was quite tasty. Thanks!