Any Guy's Food Blog

Not every recipe has to be completely original or fancy. You can go big and buy expensive salami and artisan cheese. Or you can just take the simple approach. I decided that this month needed to include a simple salami recipe. So I picked three.

Wax Peppers and Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

Sliced Salami
Cream Cheese
Pickled Wax Peppers
Optional: Toothpicks

Directions:

Spread cream cheese on a slice of salami. Cut the stem off of a wax pepper, drain out any water and loose seeds. If the wax pepper is too big, cut it in half. Press wax pepper into cheese. Roll salami. Skewer with toothpick if necessary.

Pesto Mozzarella

Sliced Salami
Pesto
Fresh Mozzarella
Toothpicks

Directions:

Spread pesto on a slice of salami. Place a small ball of fresh mozzarella on the salami. Skewer with a toothpick to hold the salami to the mozzarella.

Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomato

Sliced Salami
Small Block of Cheddar Cheese
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Toothpicks

Directions:

Cut sticks of cheddar to a length slightly less than the diameter of the salami. Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into slices. Place both in the center of a slice of salami. Skewer to secure the salami to the cheese.

Notes:

The wax pepper "recipe" is an old family recipe. As obvious of a recipe as it seems to me, I have surprisingly only seen someone else do it once in my life. The other two recipes are originals. That isn't to say that nobody else has ever done anything like it, but I haven't seen it. Recipes as simple as this are likely done and redone all over. But it's a REALLY easy way to put together a little hors d'oeuvre platter to take to a party or serve at your own. In case you haven't already realized it, I'd rate this recipe as easy.

One other note: I bought pesto from the store and boy was that a disappointment. I overpaid for terrible pesto. I'd suggest making your own in all honesty. It's far cheaper in the long run and will almost always be better than anything you buy in the store. I'll put up my own pesto recipe some time in the near future.