Camembert Cheese and Pistachio Basil Pesto Bruschetta

This is what happens when my fiance goes out of town: I end up at Whole Foods at 6 p.m. with an empty tummy and leave with some bread, basil, expensive cheese, and two large beers. Sounds like the start to a good night, right?

Top-down view of toasted bread layered with gooey Camembert cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes, and pesto sauce.

I wasn’t really entirely sure what was going to come out of the kitchen that night, but man am I happy with the result. I am so in love with these little bites that I’m considering serving them as an appetizer at our wedding. Woot!

A bunch of green, fresh basil leaves on a folded white linen napkin.

To get started, all you need is some pistachios and some basil. (The pistachios I used are the salt and pepper roasted ones from Costco… talk about addictive. These things are amazingly good, entirely too salty, and they just about break the bank. We only buy them every now and then, but they don’t last long around here. Other options are listed in the recipe below.) Add some olive oil and lime juice, and you’ve got a mighty good pesto on your hands.

You can substitute your favorite pesto recipes. We have a fun collection for you to enjoy, like kale almond or lemon basil.

A small plastic mesh pint basket full of fresh cherry tomatoes on a white linen table cloth.

And then, it’s bruschetta time! That cheese I found at Whole Foods while meandering around with an empty stomach turned out to be a really good find.

Fresh cherry tomato halves stacked on toasted Italian bread with Camembert cheese

I stood at the cheese counter for probably five minutes wanting to ask someone some questions about the cheeses, but the girl there seemed more interested in cleaning the case of olives five feet away than actually helping the customer out. So I poked and prodded a bunch of cheeses, looked up at their little description board, and tried to sniff through the plastic wrap before just saying screw it and grabbing one randomly.

A clear glass jar full of a pesto sauce made with pistachios and fresh basil.

Luck was on my side. Straight from the wedge, the Camembert isn’t really all that special. It’s mostly buttery and a bit sour, which I wasn’t a huge fan of. But baked on top of some bread? Holy moly. I just about stuck the whole 1/2 pound in the oven and ate it with a spoon, it is that good. But I refrained, and I’m sure glad I did.

Oblique view of crusty baguette slices with melted soft cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes, and a pistachio pesto sauce. Selective focus with a diffused background.

Take one bite of these and you will be in heaven. Glorious, cheesy, foodie heaven. This is all I want to eat for the rest of this week.

Side view of a crusty Camembert and Pistachio Basil Pesto recipe. Three slices of bread on a white porcelain plate with the toppings baked on.

I made these again just before AJ returned from a mini-vacation up in Monterrey for a friend’s birthday. He got home around 8 p.m., tired and hungry and sunburned.

Top-down view of two slices of Italian bread topped with cheese, cherry tomatoes, and a pistachio-based pesto sauce on a square, white porcelain plate.

I wasn’t sure if he was going to be super into these, but they seemed to hit the spot. One of our new favorites, I hope you and your family will love them too.

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Macro view of a slice of Italian bread made into a bruchetta with Camembert cheese, a pistachio-based pesto sauce, and cherry tomatoes.

Camembert Cheese and Pistachio Basil Pesto Bruschetta


  • Author: Raquel Smith
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 5 slices 1x

Description

An incredibly delicious and simple appetizer recipe. Camembert cheese and tomatoes are baked on top of some bread, then it’s all topped with a crunchy pistachio basil pesto. This will be your favorite new appetizer!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/4 cup shelled salt and pepper roasted pistachios*
  • 1/3 cup basil leaves, lightly packed
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp lime juice (or lemon juice)
  • pinch salt
  • 10 oz baguette
  • 1/2 lb Camembert cheese
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Combine the pistachios and basil in a food processor. Pulse until crumbly. Add the olive oil and lime juice, and pulse until combined. Taste, add a pinch of salt if necessary, and set aside.
  3. Rinse the tomatoes well and cut them in half, or slice them into a few pieces if they are large. Cut the baguette at an angle into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Spread each piece with a layer of the cheese, then top with a few tomato halves.
  4. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the tomatoes are soft. Remove from the oven, top with a bit of the pesto, and serve immediately.

Notes

I buy the salt and pepper roasted pistachios from Costco. They are amazing. But, if you don’t have these on hand, just use whatever roasted pistachios you can find and add a fair amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper to the pesto. As always, add gradually and taste frequently!

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Italian

Keywords: camembert, pistachio, pesto, bruschetta

If you make this and LOVE it, share it with your friends and give it a rating in the comments below!

Is pesto your thing? If so, make sure to check out these other tasty recipes:


Don’t forget to Pin It!

A collage of images showing different views of a bruschetta recipe made with French Camembert cheese and a pesto sauce made with pistachios.

Photos by Raquel Smith, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on August 14th, 2014. Last updated: January 1, 2020 at 2:45 am.

Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.

About Raquel Smith

Raquel is a whole foods enthusiast, an avid mountain biker, and a dog lover. She works by day at Food Blogger Pro and formerly maintained her food blog "My California Roots" (now merged into Foodal).

3 thoughts on “Camembert Cheese and Pistachio Basil Pesto Bruschetta”

  1. This recipe was amazing. The pistachio pesto was divine, it complemented my homemade Camembert cheese perfectly. Will definitely make this again.

    Reply
  2. I am becoming agitated with this website! Lately, I have found that a lot of the recipes have no recipe posts. All they do is give one 6 inches of instructions! No amts of the ingredients, no cooking time, nothing!! For years I have used Pinterest so delicious recipes , but I and several of my friends no longer can find the list of ingredients, amts, cooking time and and instructions! Tonite I have Camembert Cheeze here and all the other stuff I need to
    Make a baked cheeze in a bread like outer covering. I found one but after scanning for a long time etc. I just gave up!please, please, use your old way of posting recipes! I’m 73 and don’t want to spend the rest of my life trying to find what isn’t there for your recipes!

    Reply
    • Sorry you were having difficulty Venita! Full instructions and an ingredient list for this recipe appear on the “recipe card” near the end of this article, outlined in blue.

      Reply

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