Liza's Cucumber & Tomato Tea Sandwiches with Pesto Cream Cheese

One of the traditional sandwiches that is served at tea parties is the cucumber and cream cheese.  I'm not a huge fan of cucumber, so I don't go out of my way to choose this particular sandwich, but will eat it if served to me.  At my favorite tea room, Belladonna's, in Lancaster, CA they serve the cucumber sandwich, but with a pesto cream cheese spread.  In my opinion, it is so much better than the original with plain cream cheese, that I decided I needed to try to replicate it.  That's how this open-faced tea sandwich was conceived.

I was hosting a tea in my home and thought this was the perfect time to attempt this savory treat.  My neighbor, Hazel, offered to help me with the food preparation, so I gave her the spreadable cream cheese and some store-bought pesto to combine for the spread.  She insisted on assembling the sandwiches, so I also gave her the bread and cucumber.  When she returned, she had a platter with the sandwiches I had envisioned, but had added a slice of tomato on top.  Needless to say, these new treats were the hit of the tea party!  I knew she had done more than just mix together the cream cheese and pesto, so I asked her what she'd done.  She said she thought the spread needed a little something more, so she added Parmesan cheese and a bit of garlic powder.  She also thought the sandwiches could use a little more color, so she added the tomato slices.  Alas, a new tea sandwich was born!  The next time, I insisted on making the spread myself, so I could take pictures for this blog, plus exact measurements to share here.

In a small bowl, I place the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, prepared pesto, and garlic powder.

Using a spoon, I mixed the ingredients together until completely combined.

Hazel came to help me just prior to this tea party, so I don't have individual pictures of each step.  I did, however, ask her to show the sandwiches in order of assembly on the front of the cutting board, so you can see how easy it is.  I like to use potato bread, so I can say this is a vegetarian sandwich!  After cutting the bread into circles using a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cucumber (I slipped the cucumber through the cookie cutter before peeling it to make sure it was the size I wanted).  On top of that, approximately 1 teaspoon of the pesto cream cheese spread gets added.  Then, after peeling and slicing the cucumber, a slice gets added.  This is followed by a slice of cherry tomato.  I try to use the center slices of the tomatoes, so they are a nice size.  I either discard the ends, or use them in something else.

That's all there is to it!  This has got to be the most simple tea sandwich I make, and yet it is now one of my favorites by flavor alone!  I have used the pesto cream cheese on foccacia bread before assembling a large sandwich for my guys and they loved it too!  I think it would be great if tossed in some hot pasta (I think I'll try that next time!).

Liza's Cucumber & Tomato Tea Sandwiches

with Pesto Cream Cheese

4 oz. spreadable cream cheese (from an 8 oz. container)

3 tablespoons prepared pesto

2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Potato bread

1 cucumber

Cherry tomatoes

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, pesto and garlic powder.  Using a cookie cutter, cut bread slightly larger than the diameter of the cucumber.  Spread each piece of bread with pesto cream cheese. After peeling and slicing* the cucumber, add one slice to each sandwich.  After washing and slicing* the tomatoes, add one slice to the top of each sandwich.

*Once I have the bread cut, I know how many slices of cucumber and tomato I need.  Any remainder can be saved for another purpose.