What's on the Grill #253: Sausage and Beef Skewers with Chimichurri

Grilling with a skewer is great in terms of presentation and simplicity.  It's a meal on a stick.  A little bit of prep, a little bit of effort, and a whole lot of enjoyment.

Although chicken and beef are the often "go to" skewer staples, I stumbled on a recipe that called for sausage.  I was intrigued.  I can't believe I had never thought of it before.  

The recipe calls for cooked sausage, as raw sausage would take longer to cook on the skewer.  I suppose you could cook the sausage separately and than add it on, but the high grill heat would also create a ton of flareups with dripping sausage fat.  Cooked sausage, in this application, works really well.

Sausage and Beef Skewers
Adapted from Weber's Time to Grill 

1 pound top sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes, remove excess fat
1 pound cooked sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used kielbasa, the recipe called for chorizo, but you can use anything)

Chimichurri

1 cup firmly packed fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 medium cloves garlic
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbls white wine vinegar
1 tbls water
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Place the garlic and parsley into a food processor and pulse until chopped.  Run the machine and slowly stream in the olive oil, white wine vinegar, and water.  Season with the red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.  Scoop half of the chimichurri from the food processor into a small bowl.  The chimichurri in the bowl should be set aside for serving with the cooked skewers.

Prep the grill for direct high heat.  Season the meat with salt and pepper and then thread the meat and sausage alternately onto the skewers.

I used metal skewers, but wood skewers will work too, just be sure to soak them in water about an hour before grilling.    

With the skewers loaded, brush the outside with the chimichurri leftover in the food processor.

Grill.

Since the sausage is already cooked, we are just concerned with the meat.  Figure about 5-6 minutes total, turning several times during the cook.

Once done, remove from the grill and serve with the set aside chimichurri.  

It's safe to say, sausage is going to get heavy rotation in my upcoming skewer meals.  What have you skewered lately?