Lemon-Walnut Pesto Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

Ducky's Note:

This is from the "Vegetarian Appetizers" cookbook. The picture looked so fabulous that I just had to try it. DH and the other guests just gobbled these up. The pesto is pretty tasty! You will have to guage the olive oil based upon how you like your pesto. The yield on this is dependent upon the size of the tomatoes used and how you cut them. This yield assumes the tomato only has the top cut off, not in half.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 12 tomatoes

• 12 cherry tomatoes
• paprika (optional) or fresh basil (optional) or toasted walnut halves , for garnish (optional)

Pesto

• ½ cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
• ½ cup loosely packed fresh basil leaf
• ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 -2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon ground pepper , to taste
• salt , to taste

Directions:

1. Put all pesto ingredients in food processor and process until slightly chunky, or desired consistency.
2. Taste and adjust seasonings, as necessary.
3. Cut tomatoes (in half or cut off the very top) and remove seeds and juice (I use an iced tea spoon).
4. Fill tomato with pesto using a pastry bag or ziploc bag (small spoon may also work).
5. Sprinkle with paprika just before serving.
6. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Reviews

[OoeyBoobock]

What a great appetizer! I made these for a Super Bowl party and they were a huge hit. The lemon-walnut pesto is so tasty. This dish presents beautifully and looks like it would take a lot of time and effort-but it was very easy! Thanks for sharing!

[dicentra]

These are great! I used a whole pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half and a tiny slice cut off the bottom so they would stand upright. I ended up using pecans instead of walnuts, but it was still tasty! I used a zip lock bag with the corner cut off to pipe the pesto into the tomatoes. These would be even better in the summer, when tomatoes are in season. My MIL couldn't stop raving about them. :) Very pretty (red and green) on a white platter. Thanks!

[Cookgirl]

All of my favorite ingredients in one pretty little basket! I did substitute roma toms for cherry toms, but other than that, followed the recipe precisely. Next time I'll pick up some golden toms at the farmers' market and them with this recipe. Thanks for posting!