Sun Dried Tomato and Pesto Spread

Layers of cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and pesto make this sun dried tomato and pesto spread perfect for the holidays! Gluten Free.

We love this sun-dried tomato pesto appetizer recipe. We went round and round on what to name this. Is this a pesto torte? By definition, not really. A torte is usually a type of cake or multilayered cake. Is it a pesto torta? By definition, not really. A torta is usually a sandwich, or open pie with a bread base, but can refer to cakes, pies, flatbreads, or even omelets depending on the cuisine. MANY people refer to this as a torte or a torta - and we do too sometimes! We do LOVE THIS spread on bread so we decided to officially declare this a spread!

Jump to:

• Ingredients for Pesto Spread
• Equipment We Used
• Substitutions and Additions  
• How to Assemble
• Time Saver Tips
• Make Ahead Tips
• Saving Leftovers
• Other Favorite Cheese Appetizers
• Pesto Spread FAQ's
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments & Reviews

Ingredients for Pesto Spread

The combination of a few simple ingredients and this sun-dried tomato pesto appetizer is ready to WOW your guests! Easy to make and so delicious. Plus, a great make ahead dish!

• Cheese. We love this combination of cream cheese and feta cheese.
• Sun dried tomatoes. We used ready to eat sun dried tomatoes, but dried work great after reconstituting them (directions below). We don't recommend using sun dried tomatoes packed in oil.
• Pesto. Homemade is amazing, but store bought works just as good!
• Nuts. We used pine nuts and consider them a hidden treasure in this dish.
• Other staples. Olive oil, garlic, shallot, white wine, baguette slices.

Sun dried tomatoes

Sun dried tomatoes are now available in most grocery stores in three forms; ready to eat, packed in oil, or dried. We don't recommend using sun dried tomatoes packed in oil as it can make this dish too oily. If sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil are the only thing available, make sure to drain them and pat them dry. Otherwise, there is a risk of the dish being too oily.

Dry sun dried tomatoes. These will need to be reconstituted. To do this: heat 2 cups water in a medium saucepan until hot but not boiling. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sun dried tomatoes. Make sure they are submerged in the hot water. Let soak for 20-25 minutes until soft. Drain the tomatoes, pat dry, and give a rough chop until they are in smallish pieces. 

Ready to eat sun dried tomatoes. It is now possible to purchase already reconstituted sun dried tomatoes in the grocery produce section. Give these a quick chop for small diced pieces.

Equipment We Used

Hand mixer. We like using a hand mixer to make sure the cheese mixture is well combined and smooth. A food processor also works, just make sure to scrape the sides a few times to ensure the cheese is totally mixed. Mixing this by hand also works but will take some time and energy to get this smooth.

Plastic Wrap! What? I know! We try to NEVER use a single use plastic wrap but have not found anything to replace it in the assembly of this dish. We need to be able to press the layers together in our dish, keep it airtight while in the fridge, and still unmold it when ready. Parchment paper and beeswax wrap just don’t work here. We think this appetizer is so good, it is worth one piece of plastic wrap!

The dish for molding. We have used all kinds of dishes to form this sun-dried tomato pesto cheese spread; souffle dish, mixing bowl, square bowl, small casserole dish, small bread pan, and ramekins for mini tortes. If making one torte, make sure the dish is large enough to hold all the layers. A tapered dish, narrower at the bottom, makes it easier to remove this cheese layered spread from the dish for plating. A container with a 'design' gives a nice presentation when plated, but make sure to carefully line the dish and layer the cheese so it is in each pattern. It is disappointing to take the torte out of a patterned dish and find that part of it was not pressed into the pattern all the way around and the torte is lopsided. 

Substitutions and Additions  

Nuts. We love pine nuts in this sun dried tomato pesto cheese spread, but use walnuts, pistachios, or almonds instead. Whatever nuts used, make sure they are lightly toasted before using to bring out even more flavor. If using a different nut, use a pesto that contains the same nuts or a nut-free pesto.

Cheese. We usually make this cream cheese mixture with just cream cheese and feta cheese because we like the saltiness of the feta with the other ingredients. The cream cheese can be in a block or a tub just not whipped or low-fat. The feta can be crumbled or a block (in liquid or not - if in liquid, drain before using). The drier the cheese used, the more olive oil is needed to make the cheese mixture smooth. This would also be great with tangy goat cheese for all or part of either of the other cheeses. You may not need the olive oil if using a very soft goat cheese. 

Pesto. We usually use our homemade traditional fresh basil pesto for this dish. It goes great with the pine nuts and cheese mixture. This would also be great with an arugula pesto or a kale & basil pesto.

How to Assemble

Take your time when building this spread and be patient as you add each layer - it will be worth it!  Spread every layer to the edge of the dish so it is seen when the spread is unmolded.

The basic steps are:

• Prepare dish. Line the dish with plastic wrap.
• Nuts. Sprinkle some toasted pine nuts in the dish
• Cheese. Add a layer of cheese mixture and spread to the edges of the dish.
• Pesto and sun dried tomatoes. Spread some pesto evenly over the cheese followed by sun dried tomatoes.
• Repeat. Continue with a layer of pine nuts, then cheese, then pesto and tomatoes.
• Final layer. Finish with the remaining cheese mixture.
• Top. Add a sprinkle of pine nuts on top of the cheese. OPTIONAL: Save some pine nuts to garnish the dish when it is plated.

Tips on Spreading the Cheese Mixture

We found there were many ways to help spread the cheese mixture - and we've tried them all. Our favorite way, and what we found was easiest, is as follows.

• Make sure the cheese mixture is not too dry, it should be smooth and almost creamy. If it is too dry it can make this step frustrating.
• Drop small pieces of the cheese mixture (like little dumplings) across the layer.
• Use a metal utensil (spoons, spreader, or a spatula) to spread the cheese until you have a smooth layer.
• If you are having trouble spreading the cheese, use a second metal utensil to hold one end of the cheese while you stretch and spread the other end over the previous layer. NOTE: we have tried this with plastic spatulas, plastic spoons (disposable), and our hands. The metal spoons seemed to work the best.

Time Saver Tips

Purchase your favorite pesto instead of using homemade. Buy ready-to-eat (already reconstituted) sun dried tomatoes. These are usually found in the produce section. 

Use a larger dish and do fewer layers; pine nuts, cheese, pesto, sun dried tomatoes, cheese, pine nuts. You will want the dish to have enough surface space (think more flat than deep) to handle the small amount of layers without being super thick. 

Make Ahead Tips

This pesto spread needs to be made at least one day in advance and refrigerated until ready to serve. You can make this up to 3 days in advance. Keep in the dish until ready to serve - then remove from the dish, remove plastic wrap, plate, and serve.

Saving Leftovers

The FDA recommends discarding any perishable food that has been out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

If you are within the FDA recommendations, this pesto spread will last for up to 5 days in and airtight container in the refrigerator. It is delicious on a sandwich the next day!

Other Favorite Cheese Appetizers

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