This week has been a crazy one…from making my first homemade almond milk to cooking the 8-layer box sandwich to spending my time researching on a new line of a product a friend wants to introduce into the market next year. It was R&D time all the way. And I had friends dropping in for a quick snack that ended up to be really long snack-rolled into dinner break too. To my horror my pantry wasn’t a well stocked one that evening. I had to literally pull something out of almost nothing. That’s when I remembered having seen a cheese ball on Pinterest some months ago. This Cheese Ball is a product of all the time I spent online. 🙂
Thankfully since we don’t eat too much cheese, my fridge was stocked with 4 different kinds of cheese and the Feta, which I love :). Our evening snack is usually some oil free baked crackers with Feta and fruits. For this recipe, I’ve used the ragi or red millet crackers that were bought at a grocery store. Thankfully eating healthy is in fashion and a wide variety of crackers is now available. I love these ragi crackers, but you can use rice, oats or even lavash with this cheese ball.
Also experiment with your cheese ball, you can use all your favourite combinations together. I love these combos:
- Strawberry, basil and cheese
- Chocolate, almond and cheese
- Pineapple, green onion, bell pepper and cheese
- Fried onion, bacon and cheese
Sky is the limit to what you can achieve by mixing a couple of ingredients together.
Time taken: 20 minutes (if you have extra time on hand cool it for at least 2 hours, it helps bind the cheese ball together)
Serves 8
Skill level: Basic
Ingredients:
- 100 grams cream cheese (I’ve used Brittania)
- 100 grams of ricotta
- 100 grams of feta
- 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoons of chives, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup of yellow bell peppers, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of basil, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
- 1 cup of pomegranate pearls
Method:
1. Combine the three cheeses and other ingredients (except the pomegranate) together into a ball.
2. Place the pomegranate pearls on to a plastic wrap and then roll it around the cheese ball. If you have the time refrigerate it for 2 hours. It helps the cheese ball bind better.
3. Unwrap it and place it on a plate. You can serve it with crackers around the plate or inset some into the cheese ball like I did.