A true crowd pleasing appetizer, this Feta, Pesto and Tomato Bruschetta is a tasty appetizer that can be served year round. Perfect as a starter or as a holiday party appetizer.
This is a sponsored post by Hunt’s tomatoes. All opinions are my own.
It is that time of year. When I start hoarding all of the appetizer recipes. Because holiday entertaining is upon us!!
I have said it probably one hundred times on here before, but I am an appetizer loving girl. I have been known to make a whole meal out of just appetizers. In fact, one of my very favorite and most anticipated meals of the year is our annual family New Year’s Eve celebration, where we all contribute several appetizers. There is so much food, and we all end up grazing all night, waiting for the ball to drop. The bite sized finger foods work so well for this type of party, and it’s a great way to get everyone involved and contributing to the meal.
But even outside of that New Year’s Eve party, there are holiday parties and get-togethers galore all through December. So it’s always a good idea to have some favorite appetizer recipes on hand. And this Feta, Pesto and Tomato Bruschetta is on my list of favorites this year!!
I am a bruschetta lover. I love the fresh flavors. But I’ve never been as big of a fan in the winter because fresh tomatoes just aren’t very good in December. But as I was trying to come up with a concept for a new appetizer, I thought to myself – why not use Hunt’s diced tomatoes? It was such an easy solution, because Hunt’s tomatoes are canned within hours of being picked at the peak of ripeness, so those tomatoes taste super fresh, just like off the vine tomatoes would taste in June. Win! And Hunt’s uses a process called FlashSteam™ to peel their tomatoes instead of using lye*. It is a simple process that uses water and steam, so there are no chemical by-products that get put back into the earth. And another bonus? Their tomatoes are 100% natural and non-GMO.
So I had the tomato situation figured out, but I wanted to give the classic bruschetta a twist – something just a little bit different than the norm. I started with a base of whipped feta. If you’ve never tried whipped feta, you are in for a treat. It’s salty and smooth and so good. You basically just take some feta – I always buy the kind that comes in a brick, not the pre-crumbled kind – with some cream cheese and garlic. And that’s it! A few minutes in the food processor and it’s silky smooth and delicious.
And since I was going for an appetizer that you can use year round, I just used jarred pesto. Yes, homemade is wonderful, but if you are like me and didn’t make pesto to freeze, the jarred, store bought kind works just fine. Then you top that off with the Hunt’s tomatoes. I could have stopped there, but decided to add a balsamic drizzle and that was not a bad idea. 🙂 You can also buy the balsamic drizzle at the store.
This is an appetizer that is perfect for all of your holiday entertaining!!
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Feta, Pesto and Tomato Bruschetta
Ingredients
- 4 oz feta cheese (in a block, not pre-crumbled)
- 1 1/2 oz whipped cream cheese
- 1 small clove garlic minced
- salt and pepper
- 1 baguette
- extra virgin olive oil
- 5 tablespoons prepared pesto
- 1 14.5 oz can Hunt's Diced Tomatoes drained
- balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- Crumble the feta into a food processor and pulse a few times to break it up. Add the cream cheese and garlic and puree for several minutes, until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cut the baguette into 28-30 slices. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Place in the oven until the bread is lightly toasted, 4-5 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- To prepare, top each slice of bread with some of the whipped feta. Spread about 1/2 teaspoon of the pesto over the feta. Top with some of the diced tomatoes.
- When ready to serve, drizzle the balsamic glaze over the top of the bruschetta. Serve immediately.
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*Lye Peeling is generally recognized as safe by the FDA and has no adverse effects on the healthfulness of tomatoes.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hunt’s . The opinions and text are all mine.
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
my family likes appetizers; so much so that we try to limit it so that no one spoils their dinner (though i think you’ve got the better of idea of doing apps only). and that whipped feta cream cheese spread sounds delicious!