Brie, Pesto & Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta

I'm kind of laughing at myself right now because this will be the sixth recipe I've made that involves cheese... meaning all of my recipes so far have involved some sort of cheese product. This is also the second time I am putting Brie front and center in a recipe.  I think it is safe to assume that I cannot stand Brie.

I hate it. I will not, under any circumstances, eat Brie.

...are you going to finish that?

Anyway, my love for cheese is only rivaled by my love for finger foods. Foods that people can gather around; "social foods" if you will. Toss in a little Autumnal flair for good measure, and you have my Brie, Pesto & Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta recipe.

As a side note, I would like to point out that this recipe showed me that there is a Grand Canyon-sized difference between store bought, pre-grated cheese and freshly grated cheese.  I grated my own Parmesan for this recipe, and there was a huge difference.

Can I just say how much I hate the fact that my camera battery was dead last night, and I was stuck using a Blackberry camera?  Sigh.  All the beautiful fall colors are completely lost.

Now, this recipe is actually a two-in-one deal, meaning you have two recipes to create one dish.  Aside from the assembly and cooking of the Bruschetta, there is the recipe for the pesto used.  If you not feeling adventurous in your kitchen, however, or you're short on time, feel free to use store bought pesto.  If you claim you made it yourself, I won't tell... just like the time Boston Market catered your "from scratch" Thanksgiving dinner.

 

So, without further ado...

Brie, Pesto & Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients (PESTO):

2 cups fresh basil leaves packed

1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts (**See note)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients (BRUSCHETTA):

1 French baguette

1 wedge Brie cheese, about 8 ounces

1 1/2 cups Heirloom Tomatoes chopped

Directions (PESTO):

This is very easy.

1. Open your food processor.

2. Put all of your ingredients in the food processor.

3. Turn on the food processor, and run it until your pesto looks like a delicious yummy pesto paste.

4. There is no four.  You now have pesto.

**Note: Walnuts can be very tricky.  If you stick your walnut halves in the food processor with your other ingredients, there's a good chances they will not break down, and you'll end up with the pesto version of chunky peanut butter, but not in a good way.  I recommend you run your walnuts through the food processor first a bit, to break them down.  Or you can just stick with pine nuts, as the walnut's smaller and more food processor-friendly compatriot. 

Directions (BRUSCHETTA):

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

2. Slice your French baguette into 3/4 inch to 1 inch slices.  Try not to make them TOO thick, or it'll detract from the rest of the flavors.

3. Place your baguette slices on a greased baking sheet.  Generously spread pesto on the top faces of the bread.

4. Put a slice of Brie on top of each piece of baguette.

5. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, but keep an eye on them.  You want the cheese to be melted and a bit bubbly, but you do not want to burn the cheese.

6.  Top with sliced tomatoes.  Try to mix up the colors to keep it in the spirit of fall.


PATRICK'S RATING: 5 out of 5 AWESOMES.  He said it was "ridiculous" and the tomatoes "make" the dish.