Speedy Spiedini

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

In Turkey they’re called kebabs and in Thailand they’re called sate. If you are in Italy, or an Italian restaurant around the world, and meat or fish is served skewered and grilled it is called spiedini. Outside of variations on seasoning and accompanying sauce or side, there is not that much that separates these meats on skewers. The fact is that, if you go as far away as Thailand or as close as a local Turkish restaurant, you are going to find meat on skewers as an essential part of the menu, as this is a cooking technique that resonates with chefs around the world. This is why if you are feeling Italian but looking for something quick, spiedini might be your answer.

So prideful is the country of its cuisine, most Italians can tell you the region of origin for nearly every dish that we associate with the country. Some of the best parmesan and prosciutto come Emilia Romagna, for risotto look to Piedmont and Veneto where the rice is grown, and for true traditional balsamic vinegar you can go nowhere but Modena or Reggio Emilia. But when it comes to spiedini, even after a quick Google search and a flip through my Italian cookbooks, I can find no one region in Italy laying claim to the tradition of cooking meat and fish on skewers. But it is no matter, for I am sure wherever you travel in Italy, there will be spiedini made in the way of that region.

It is not hard to see the attraction of grilling meat on skewers. Grilling itself is an American pastime as much as it is a cooking technique that dates back to when man first discovered fire. The smoke lends flavor to the food while the fire adds a crisp, appealing texture. Then there is the speed factor: meat and fish must be cut into small portions before threading on the skewers. The smaller the piece, the more surface area is exposed to the fire, the quicker it will cook. Finally, there is something undeniably cool both visually and tactilely about a skewer: beautiful to look at, fun to eat.

It is for all these reasons that I seem to be finding speidinis listed more and more on Italian menus here in the US and abroad. At the Emilia Romagna style restaurant, Bianca, which I frequent every time I am in New York City, their spiedinis consist of shrimp and scallops in an herb vinaigrette served with rice and a vegetable. At De La Rosa in San Francisco, my go-to for all day and late night eating in the Marina district, my favorite spiedini consists of cubes of chicken skewered and grilled served over creamy white beans and wilted kale.

To make skewered, grilled meats at home that go beyond the typical barbecue kebab, try thinking in terms of the region in Italy you might be cooking it in. If you were cooking in Modena, land locked in the North of Italy, spiedini might be made of tender lamb cubes, marinated in garlic and rosemary and glazed with a balsamic reduction while on the grill. In the canals of Venice where seafood rules, skewered shrimp, baby squid, and bay scallops might be simply grilled for 1-2 minutes per side to be just cooked through, and then served with citrusy vinaigrette.

For home cooking, chicken is still perhaps the most accessible and foolproof way to begin experimenting with Italian-style skewers. Chicken tenders, from the breast, come ready made for threading on wooden skewers. I like the flavor and moisture of the leg meat a bit more so I’ll take chicken thighs and slice them lengthwise to form two “tender-sized” long strips and thread them from there. A quick marinade with herbs from the garden such as oregano and rosemary along with garlic and olive oil packs some flavor.

Since the weather is cooling down, the grill pan will likely take the place of the outdoor barbecue this fall. Over medium high flame, the skewers will cook for 3-4 minutes per side until browned with the lovely stripes of the grill pan. To serve, I will have reserved a bit of the olive oil and herb mix to be turned into a salad dressing with balsamic. Cooked quinoa for an international flair will be tossed with arugula or watercress and the dressing for a warm salad to form a colorful and flavor packed base for the spiedini right off the grill.

Grilled meats on skewers can be found in every culture, but to be Italian, it must be a spiedini. Threaded meat and fish with the tastes of Italy, from fresh herbs, to parmesan, prosciutto, and balsamic, give these kebabs flair that sets them apart from just any other meat on a stick. For a quick, speedy, nightly meal, think spiedini.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 8 chicken thighs
• 8 wooden skewers
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, oregano, and parsley
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 bunch watercress
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar