Any excuse to use pickled garlic for this girl! Pickled garlic can be found in some stores in the deli where they have the olive salads or can be found in jars often in the produce section.
You’ll be looking for something like this Christopher Ranch brand. The other punch of flavor in this quick appetizer comes from marinated artichoke hearts. I’ve done these two ways because I had a vegetarian guest and I wanted her to be able to enjoy the same things we all were – On one stick, I used artichoke hearts on the other I used pepperoni. You’ll be needing:
A small basket of grape tomatos
A large can of pitted olives, drained
Mozzarella cheese (I just used cheese sticks but you can use fresh balls of course)
Pepperoni slices
Marinated Artichoke Hearts and juice
Pickled Garlic
Dried Basil flakes (optional)
Skewers (4 inch skewers shown here)
In a bowl combine the ingredients excluding the pepperoni. I cut the pickled garlic in half so they wouldn’t be so large but you can use whole cloves as well. You’ll let them sit in the artichoke juice briefly just to coat everything. It gives it a wonderful tangy flavor. After about 10 minutes, drain off the liquid and begin making your skewers. Easy as that.
If you want to skip the whole skewer business, you can serve it simply as a salad. Prepare it the same way, adding the pepperoni to the marinade to soak too if desired. Drain and chill.
