I have a very clear philosophy when it comes to cooking: keep the ingredients simple, but make the ingredients the best they can be. If you are going to make a simple appetizer, like the one in this recipe, make each ingredient shine. In this recipe, I have marinated the cubes of feta in a light vinegarette and I have oven roasted grape tomatoes instead of using jarred sundried tomatoes. The parsley pesto is meant to swirl on the plate so each appetizer can pick up a little bit of the sauce. But you can serve the pesto in a little bowl for dipping as well. These little bites have big bursts of flavor and go well with a dry, white wine. Enjoy!
Cyprus Skewers (Serves 4):
16 – 1 inch cubes of feta cheese
1/2 c white wine vinegarette (recipe below)
16 pitted, whole kalamata olives
16 whole grape tomatoes, oven roasted (directions below)
Parsley pesto (recipe below)
Marinate cubes of feta in vinegarette for 30 minutes in the refridgerator. Assemble skewers by sliding one cooled oven roasted tomato, one olive and one cube of feta. Repeat. Drizzle parsley pesto on serving plate and arrange all skewers on top.
White Wine Vinegarette:
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 c white wine vinegar
1 tsp italian seasoning
dash of salt and pepper
1/4 c olive oil
Combine mustard, vinegar, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine. Add olive oil in small stream while whisking continuously.
Parsley Pesto:
1/4 c pine nuts
1/4 c parmesan cheese
1 squeeze of lemon
1 c loosely packed parsley
olive oil
salt and pepper
In food processor, combine pine nuts and parmesan cheese. Pulse until cheese and nuts are finely chopped. Add parsley and squeeze of lemon juice. Pulse to chop. While running processor, drizzle in olive oil until pesto is loose and moves freely around the processor (approx 1/2 cup). Season with salt and pepper to taste
Oven Roasted Tomatoes:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and dry grape tomatoes. Place tomatoes in lined baking sheet (These make an awful mess! Make sure you line your pan for easy clean up). Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Roast for 20 minutes. With the back of a fork, press down on each tomato to flatten it. Continue roasting until skins are blackened. Cool in pan. Gently remove each tomato from the pan with a fork.
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Lucky for me, I got to eat this after the photo shoot. Yummy. The tomato is
incredibly sweet, the feta is so flavorful and the olive ties all the flavors together in a delicious little bow.