Creamy Sundried Tomato Pesto Dip
Are you ready for some football??? The latest Taste of Home Cooking Recipe Swap celebrated the beginning of football season with a tailgating/appetizer theme. I was given a recipe for Mediterranean Dip from the blog Mrs. Regueiro's Plate.
After reading the recipe, I decided to both simplify it and change things up a bit, turning it into a creamier spread for crostini instead of a dip for pita chips (although I did also try it on pita chips). Instead of having a layer of feta at the bottom of the dip, I decided to blend my basil pesto with cream cheese and mayo as I thought too much feta would make the dip too salty. Additionally, feta doesn't fully melt, so I wanted something creamy as the base. I also didn't use full sundried tomatoes, but only the sundried tomato pesto. Finally, I didn't have much time so I used *gasp* store bought sundried tomato pesto... it worked just fine.
The result? A perfectly savory, flavorful, creamy, crostini topping/spread/dip..whatever you'd like to call it!
Here is my variation on the recipe.
Ingredients
- Approximately 1/2 cup basil pesto (I made a pesto using one bunch of basil, 3 cloves of garlic, a touch of Kosher salt, and some olive oil - no pine nuts)
- 1 block of cream cheese, softened
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp sundried tomato pesto
- 1/2 can artichoke hearts, chopped
- 6 oz crumbled feta
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Mix basil pesto with the cream cheese and mayonnaise. Spread it in the bottom of a deep dish pie plate, or small baking dish
- Next, spread a layer of sundried tomato pesto
- Top with the chopped artichokes, then the feta cheese.
- Bake for 15-20 min until hot and bubbly.
I will definitely be making this creation again!!
