Pesto and Cream Cheese Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients

• FOR THE ASSEMBLY:
• 1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
• 4 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Basil Pesto (use Prepared Pesto Or Recipe Below)
• FOR THE BASIL PESTO:
• 2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves
• 1 clove Or 2 If Preferred, Whole Garlic Cloves
• ½ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• ¼ cups Pine Nuts
• ½ cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Cut tops off of the tomatoes and use a spoon to clean the inside of them and remove seeds.

In a medium bowl combine cream cheese and pesto and stir until well blended. Add spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture into each tomato.

Variation-
For a lighter version, use light cream cheese.

For Basil Pesto-
Combine the basil, garlic, cheese, and pine nuts in your food processor. Process to combine them a bit. Then open the shoot and stream in the olive oil while continuing to process. Season with salt and pepper. Process to desired consistency. If you like your pesto not as thick, just add a little more olive oil.

Note: this will make more pesto than needed for this recipe.