Looking for something for an appetizer that is just as easy as it is tasty? These creamy pesto tomato poppers will do just the trick!
This recipe was inspired by a Meetup I went to recently.
Meetup (#notsponsored), if you don’t know what it is, is an app/website where you can make or go to groups in your area to meet new people! The groups can be anything: this group just so happened to be a outdoorsy/happy hour meetup.
The premise of this particular meetup was simple. It was a time to chill out, BYOB, and bring an appetizer to share.
Appetizer to share? I thought.
I had two options.
One, I admit defeat, go to the store, and buy food. I run the risk of being chastised for being the food blogger that won’t even make food for the group! It was the quicker option, but most definitely the easy way out.
Or two, I take the extra time to think of and make an appetizer for my Meetup people. This would be the perfect time to take everyone up on their offer of being my “guinea pigs” for my food experiments! The more mouths that taste my food before it goes on the blog, the better.
So naturally, I chose the second and set to work.
And thus, the creamy pesto tomato poppers were born!
Since everyone seemed to like them (there were 5 pieces left when I left out of 60-70), I felt it safe to put this for today’s recipe. They are finger-friendly appetizers that don’t need to be kept warm, and that’s exactly what I needed!
Last week, I taught you a simple pesto recipe.
And I will say, it was not without reason! I mean, the first time I made this recipe it was with store-bought pesto.
*gasp!*
Yes, I know. I was short on time. Remember, I do enjoy semi-homemade cooking! But I didn’t want to keep using store-bought. It is easy enough to make pesto enough at home.
But now I can safely say, this recipe works with homemade or store-bought pesto. The higher the quality of pesto that you purchase, however, the better your creamy pesto tomato poppers will be. I had bought pesto in the refrigerator case, and it was delicious.
As always, it is a matter of preference, time and money! If you like canned pesto, go for it. I have absolutely no room to say boo about it!
Oh, and one last piece of advice: don’t use grape tomatoes for these tomato poppers.
I learned this one the hard way. I thought, I’ll save some money and buy grape tomatoes instead of the cherry! Mind you, the price of the cherry tomatoes was edging somewhere between fifty cents to a dollar per tomato. That’s crazy talk!
So I got the grape tomatoes. And even though they were nice and tiny and delicious, cutting them all in half and taking the seeds out took FOREVER. I was at it for an hour, just cutting and hulling out the seeds. To me, for someone who was strapped enough for time, this was craziness. I knew the next time I made the tomato poppers there had to be a change.
This time around, I used the cherry tomatoes. And as expected, my de-seeding and hulling time was cut drastically.
So do yourself a favor: don’t use grape tomatoes!
Do you have a go-to appetizer for parties? Let me know in the comments down below!
Cheers dears!
Gem
Creamy Pesto Tomato Poppers
An easy appetizer for the summertime.
- 20-22 cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup pesto
- 1/3 cup cream cheese
- freshly grated parmesan cheese, to taste
Cut your tomatoes in half lengthwise. be sure to cut it at such a place that the tomato will balance well. Hull out seeds. Set aside.
In a blender or food processor, add pesto and cream cheese. Blend until well mixed.
Add to a piping bag or a plastic bag that can cut the tip off of. Squeeze creamy pesto into tomato halves. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Place in refrigerator until you are ready to eat.
