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Ooey gooey melty Pesto Cheese Bombs with marinara sauce are super easy to make and will please any crowd. Make this appetizer for your next game day party!
I love me some bread and melted cheese. In fact, I think cheesy bread deserves its own food group, much like bacon does. Refrigerated biscuit dough is one of those staples everyone should have in their refrigerator. If not to use it for its intended use, biscuits that is, that dough should always be available for that emergency batch of Granny’s Monkey Bread that everyone loves to wake up to.
These cheese bombs are a thing of beauty. First of all, it doesn’t get much easier than cutting up some string cheese, and if you’re a mom you most certainly already have cheese sticks in your refrigerator. To make the pull apart, all you need to do is wrap some dough around the cheese. BOOM. Done. But wait. You know they could be oh so much better with a little something extra.
Enter the pesto. Don’t fret – you can totally buy a tub of store bought pesto. Not a problem. Me? I just happen to have some of my homemade macadamia gouda pesto (aka highly addictive green crack) in the refrigerator that was just begging to be used in an application like this.
I decided to use the springform pan with a dish in the middle perfectly sized for some warm marinara. I greased the sides so the dough wouldn’t stick and then lined the bottom with parchment. Be sure to place a piece of foil on the rack below because this will ooze in the naughtiest of ways during the cooking process.
Here’s a little before and after action to show you how much they expand during the cooking process.
The result? A super easy to make gooey appetizer that everyone will love. Not sure how long to cook it? The sign they they are perfectly done is when the cheese starts to ooze out. Oh yeah.
Pretty good use of the left over pesto, wouldn’t you say? Enjoy!!!
Pesto Cheese Bombs
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces biscuit dough (the kind from the tube)
- 4 mozzarella string cheese sticks
- 1/2 cup pesto
- butter for greasing
- 1 cup marinara sauce warmed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a ramekin or ceramic bowl in the center of a springform pan and grease the inside edges of the pan as well as the outside of the bowl to prevent sticking.
- Split each biscuit into two by dividing the layers, totaling 16 rounds of dough. Cut each of the cheese sticks into quarters. Wrap each chunk of cheese in the biscuit dough and seal edges to create a ball.
- Add pesto to a small bowl and roll each ball of dough in the pesto to coat. Add to the pan in a ring shape and cover with any remaining pesto. Bake with a layer of foil under the pan to catch any grease that might leak out for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and some melted cheese is visible.
- Add warmed marinara to the center dish for dipping. Serve hot.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this recipe as an appetizer for a dinner party. Cooked them for 30 min at 375, as per instructions on the biscuit tube. They were fantastic! Thanks!
These are delicious and easy to make!
Don’t kill me…..Not a big fan of pesto. Can you use something other than pesto for this recipe????
Gasp! You don’t like pesto? Just messing with you. Honestly, a nice olive oil with some minced garlic would work great!
Can these be frozen for a couple days? I need them in 4 days but don’t want them to dry out.
I think as long as you let them cool first and then wrap them super tight and squeeze out all the air, they’d be fine.
Is it possible to use a different kind of cheese, not cheese sticks?
Hi Maureen. Absolutely! Whole milk mozzarella is all you need. I prefer the firmer block as opposed to the soft one floating in liquid. -Krissy
Just made this appetizer for a wine party I went to this past weekend. It was a good choice everyone loved them. It was also easy & fun to make with my teenager, I’ll definitely make them again!
Thanks, Stephanie! Glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Krissy,
Do you think I could make these in a bundt pan like granny bread?
Yep! You’ll just need to adjust the time so they all get cooked through. Maybe lower temp to prevent burning but longer cook time? Or cover to keep from burning?
I need an appetizer for a church Christmas party and i want to bake this into the shape of a Christmas tree and use pepperoni like ornaments.
Great idea!!!
These look delicious! Can you use pizza dough or do your recommend sticking to the biscuit dough?
Hi Kimberly, I actually think pizza dough might be even better! Krissy