Garden Vegetables and Italian Sausage Spiedini

If you planted a vegetable garden this year you might find, as the season winds down, that you are left with odds and ends, maybe not quite enough of any one thing to make a recipe.
One of the things that we like to do is cube up the vegetables, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast them off until done to our liking. At this point you can cool, place the veggies in a bowl, add a little wine vinegar (or your favorite) and toss with some fresh herbs, additional raw tomatoes, peppers, etc.
It's delicious as a accompaniment alongside the main course; excellent with meat, poultry or fish, or tossed with some cooked pasta; served hot or room temperature.



The other thing I like to do when I have just a few remnants from the garden, is cut or slice into appropriate size for grilling, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and grill. Most recently I had some Japanese eggplant, zucchini, Italian peppers, and Bell peppers. I also had some cherry tomatoes (which were oven roasted earlier-- I had set some aside from making another dish) and ripe yellow tomatoes.



I wanted to assemble it all into Spiedini. You probably know that Spiedini are the Italian equivalent of Shish Kebabs (a Turkish meal on a stick.)
I sliced some partially boiled* and cooled Italian Sausage into 1 1/2-inch pieces and skewered them; alternating with red onion pieces and Italian Peppers, brushed them with olive oil and set on the grill. You will want to turn them every few minutes for even grilling.
*Well, not actually "boiled"; I just place the whole sausages in a skillet with about 1 to 1-1/2 inches of cool water, bring to a gentle simmer over medium to medium high heat. You can pierce the sausage casings with a toothpick or tip of a sharp knife to allow some of the fat to escape and to prevent the  casing from bursting. I allow them to just barely simmer for a couple of minutes, turning once. Cook just enough for the sausage to lose the pink,  as they will finish cooking on the grill. Allow them to cool a bit before slicing into portions (as they will slice in a neater fashion when cooled.)



Alongside the skewers on the grill, I placed some Japanese eggplant  and zucchini-- sliced diagonally (to make a larger suface area)  about 1/2-inch thick, and brushed with olive oil,  and sprinkled with salt)  then grilled until tender.

When it comes time to serve you can either serve the grilled skewers (everything left on the skewer) accompanied by the eggplant, roasted cherry tomatoes, and diced fresh tomato and sprinkle  with fresh herbs if desired.  
This time I served appetizer-size portions on small plates.   If you have access to really good Italian sausages, and happily I do-- I like to serve this as is ~ because it's really flavorful.   You can also serve with a squeeze of lemon or drizzle with your favorite vinaigrette. 
Good for a party or get together as you can assemble and prepare ahead, then just grill everything when you're ready.




Other summer squash would work well in this preparation, just cut to shape/size that you can skewer securely.
Cubes of chicken, beef, pork, seafood or prawns are fabulous served this way too.




I do love Fall, however I am sad to see Summer winding down (but I do not think any of us will miss the forest fires.)
I hope you are having a good week~
~mari  xoxo