Pesto Poppers

Hey-YO!

Christmas is NEXT WEEK?!? WHAT? I know crazy.

So I know I’ve already told you that I’m all done shopping and wrapping gifts but for some reason this year I don’t feel super ‘Christmas-y’. I mean it’s five freaking days away! I’m hoping once I have one of my many family Christmas gatherings this weekend, I’ll feel more festive 🙂

The holidays are full of yummy food, get-togethers with friends, drinks, parties. And if you’re anything like me, your fiance will spring a commitment on you the hour before and “oh-you’re supposed to make something and bring it”……

I mean that didn’t happen or anything….

Well if you find yourself in the same situation or you have unexpected guests this holiday season (or really any time of the year!) this super fast and delicious appetizer will be your saving grace.

Not only are they great- but they seem like they’d take forever yet can be whipped up in about 10 minutes!

Behold the Pesto Popper

Pesto Poppers

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry Dough
Mozzarella Cheese (I think the fresh would be best)
Pre-made pesto
Toothpicks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Follow puff Pastry directions to thaw accordingly. Using a lightly floured surface and a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry. Then using a cookie or biscuit cutter(*I used a drinking glass since i didn’t have a round cutter) cut out circles. You can keep rolling out the dough to get as many circles as you can.

In the center of each place a dollop of pesto and a chunk of cheese.

Pull all sides together and secure with two toothpicks per popper (sort of making a ‘X’). Place on a baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes, or beautifully brown.

Remove from the oven and take out the toothpicks. Serve warm or room temp, although I’m partial to warm since the cheese is still gooey 🙂

There you have it! See? So easy and good. And everyone will ask you how to made these. I think the puff pastry makes them ‘elegant’. You could also do so many flavor combinations for these. I’m really digging the idea of a tapenade or roasted red pepper version.

If you guys make these and try different flavors- PLEASE come back and tell me how they turned out 🙂

Hope you all enjoy this, enjoy this weekend, and if you’re traveling for the holidays in the coming days, travel safe and I hope everything goes as planned.

xoxo

Garlic Artichoke Bread

Think of this as Cheesy Garlic Bread meets Baked Artichoke Dip, only it’s 50 times better than that 🙂

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar and mozarella cheese blend
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup plain greek yogurt
1 large shallot, finely minced
1 small loaf ciabatta bread ( Really any type of bread would be fine)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
*I added about 1-2 tbs of fresh chopped basil and it was sooooo delicious!

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350-375

In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, melt the butter until foamy. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, and stir in artichoke hearts, mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan, sour cream and shallot until combined.
Slice/open your bread) Place the bread open face side up on the baking sheet, and spread the cheese and artichoke mixture overtop. Bake until cheese is melty and it starts to brown and bread is hot. I finished it off with a few minutes under the broiler to get even better color! Then cut bread into servable size pieces and serve right away, while the cheese is still nice and melty and delicious.

I made this for a group of friends and they all seemed to enjoy it. I defineitly did! This would be great as an appitizer or side dish. Also you can totally make this ahead. I actually make the artichoke cheese mixture the day before and then just spread it on the bread and baked it and it turned out fan.tast.ic!

Enjoy!

xoxo