Italian Sun-Dried Tomato, Provolone and Pesto Torte

Daniel'sWife's Note:

My mother-in-law recently served this at our baby shower. It was a tremendous hit! Delicious flavors meld together to create a rich and creamy indulgence. Serve with toasted baguette, crackers, veggies, or whatever else you please. This looks so pretty on a serving plate - your guests won't want to touch it. But they'll be glad when they do - delish! Note: cooking time is chill time.

• Total Time: 4 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 32

• 3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 9 slices provolone cheese
• 8 ounces pesto sauce

Directions:

1. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Turn off the heat. Place sun-dried tomatoes in the water, and cover for 5 minutes. Drain, and finely chop.
2. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and garlic.
3. Line a medium bowl or loaf pan with a large piece of dampened cheese cloth. Layer with 1/3 of the provolone cheese. Spread with 1/2 of the pesto. Pour in 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture. Layer with 1/2 of the sun-dried tomatoes. Layer with 1/3 of the provolone cheese, remaining pesto, remaining cream cheese, and remaining sun-dried tomatoes. Top with remaining provolone cheese.
4. Pull cheese cloth around the layered mixture and gently press into a bowl to mold and remove excess oil. Chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. Remove cheese cloth and invert onto serving platter.
5. Garnish as desired with basil, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, lemon wedges, olive oil, etc.
6. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Margie99]

This was good stuff. It was easy but made a pretty presentation. It looked like I had spent hours on it. I used a homemade spinach pesto and made it in a bowl. I think next time I would like to make it in a loaf pan for a bit more consistency. I was also thinking about adding some italian seasoning to the cream cheese. Made this for the Spring 2010 PAC, Yum.

[Proud Veteran's wife]

This was very tasty and would be great to have at a party! I halved the recipe and when it was finished I cut it in half and then stacked it, to show off the beautiful colors. I didn't have cheese cloth and couldn't find any at the store I went to. So I used a thick, clean, damp paper towel. It worked just fine and soaked up some of the oil. I served it with crackers. Very good and would make again! Thanks for the recipe! Made for PAC Orphanage Spring 08 ETA: I took this to a family party and they loved it. I think next time I will chop the sundried tomato up so it's easier to slice.