Who doesn’t love cheese? What about cheeseballs? Well, maybe the lactose intolerant.
I manage people. My self-imposed rule – if I have a team meeting, I have to bring homemade food to feed my peeps. Hoping first that they appreciate the gesture, and secondly they pay attention during the meeting.
This past week, a meeting was scheduled and the pressing question for me – What am I going to make? I try checking with my team if they want sweet or savory, and I usually get the standard “It doesn’t matter.” This time I got “What is savory anyway?” Uh, not sweet. Duh? (I left the “duh” out of my response.)
I came up with cheeseballs! I made two different kinds, just for variety and served them with a mix of crackers.
Bacon Gorgonzola Cheeseball
Ingredients
- 8 oz Cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 8 oz white cheddar cheese grated
- 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
- 12 grape tomatoes seeded, and chopped
- 2 green onions, white and green chopped
- 6 slices thick cut bacon chopped
- 3 shakes Worcestershire sauce (that's hard to spell!)
- Fresh ground pepper
Garnish: Chopped tomatoes, bacon, chopped herb
Instructions
- Cooked the chopped bacon in a small pan until crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
- In electric mixing bowl, on slow/medium speed combine cream cheese, butter and garlic until blended.
- Add cheddar, Gorgonzola, chopped onion, blend. Add chopped tomato and bacon bits, blend. Add Worcestershire and black pepper, blend.
- Line bowl(s) with plastic wrap with overhang. Depending on the size of balls you desire, spoon mixture into plastic wrap, pull up edges of wrap and twist to help in forming balls, Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Remove wrap, if desired top with garish, or press garnish into balls and serve with crackers
Hubby tried the Bacon Gorgonzola Cheeseball and said, “we should stir this into hot pasta!” Note to self, if there are leftovers, make some pasta.
Cheddar Pecan Cheeseball
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese block softened
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese grated
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbsp parsley minced fresh, or dried flakes
- 4 shakes hot sauce (Cholula, is my preference)
- Fresh ground pepper
Garnish - Toasted pecans, chopped, fresh herbs, chopped
Instructions
- In electric mixing bowl, on slow/medium speed combine cream cheese, butter and garlic until blended.
- Add cheddar, parmesan and parsley, blend. Add hot sauce and black pepper, blend.
- Line bowl(s) with plastic wrap with overhang. Depending on the size of balls you desire, spoon mixture into plastic wrap, pull up edges of wrap and twist to help in forming balls, Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Remove wrap, if desired top with garish, or press garnish into balls and serve with crackers
Can’t wait to make them !