PESTO CHEESE BLOSSOM

At first glance this may seem like a difficult recipe, fussy even, but trust me, it's not! It's so simple. I don't know about you, but I get tired of the same ol' cheese ball recipe. You see it all the time at church fellowships. It's good, but it gets kind of boring after a while. This one is REALLY delicious. I served it at my daughter-in-law's baby shower, and all the ladies just raved about how pretty, and how tasty it was. Sorry for the poor photography. That's not my forte' - LOL I suppose I should have picked a less "busy" plate for the photo. But I'm sure you get the idea. Serve this up at your next family gathering, reunion, church fellowship, ladies meeting, and you'll get all kinds of ooh's and aah's!


1 (8 oz) package sliced provolone cheese
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
20 pistachios, shelled
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 ounce oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes


Directions:

Line a medium bowl with plastic wrap, leaving enough overhang to cover the top. Reserving 3 slices of the provolone, line the bottom and sides of the bowl with the remaining provolone, overlapping the slices. For the cream cheese layer, process the cream cheese, pistachios, and 1 of the garlic cloves in a food processor until blended; scrape the mixture into a bowl and set aside. For the pesto layer, process the basil, parsley, pine nuts, and the remaining garlic clove in the food processor until blended. Dissolve the salt and pepper in the olive oil and mix well. With the machine running, add the oil in a fine stream. Scrape this mixture into a second bowl and set aside. For the tomato layer, drain the tomatoes, reserving the oil. Puree the tomatoes with a small amount of the reserved oil in a food processor. Spread some of the cream cheese mixture over the cheese slices lining the bowl. Layer the pesto mixture, half of the remaining cream cheese mixture, the sun dried tomato mixture, and then remaining cream cheese mixture in the bowl. Cover with the remaining provolone cheese. Bring the edges of the plastic wrap together over the top and secure with a twist tie. Freeze until firm. Remove the plastic wrap and invert the mold onto a serving platter. Serve with party crackers. This will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.