Cheese Ball, an Up-Cycled Food!

I am a cheese hound.  One time Tall Dark and Handsome inventoried the refrigerator and found 13 varieties! I insisted that the cream cheese and cottage cheese didn’t count, but he argued otherwise (typical lawyer type). Living in the land of cheese and maple, how can a girl help herself? Vermont has the most amazing cheeses in the world!  With so many quality artisan cheeses around, I could pretend that I live in France.  Can my Vermont-to-France ex pat confirm?

I even venture into cheese making myself sometimes, a perfect use for out-dated milk. You might imagine, if I have so many cheeses that I might have a hard time using them all.  Well, I have been known to toss cheese rinds into all kinds of sauces.  I grate leftovers and put cheese onto salads, into rice or noodle sides. I even use leftover cheese with breadcrumbs to make a tasty coating for baked chicken.

I believe this little gem of a cheesball was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, but for the life of me, I cannot find the pin.

Why do I say up-cycled? Because this cheese ball uses all your leftover cheese, no matter what the kind! It is like recycling cheese! The best part is that the flavor will change according to what cheese leftovers you have. My most recent cheese ball was an earthy and wonderfully funky tasting blend of raw goat’s and cow’s milk cheeses.

This is by far easiest to make using a food processor but you can also make this by hand if your food processor happens to break.  Not that I would have experience with that…..

Up-cycled Cheese Ball

• 1c grated cheese
• 1oz cream cheese
• 1oz butter (*optional for hard cheeses)
• 2T white wine
• Pinch garlic powder
• Salt/pepper
• Finely chopped nuts or herbs for coating

Grate cheese including any edible rinds.  Add cream cheese, butter, wine and seasonings. Mash together until mostly smooth.  Scoop the cheese mixture onto plastic wrap and roll/wrap into a ball. Place the wrapped cheese ball into a bowl to help it maintain its round shape. Refrigerate the cheese ball for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Before serving the cheese ball, roll the yumminess in your preferred coating and allow to come to room temperature before slicing into it. If you plan to store the cheese ball, then I suggest using the ground nuts. If serving right away, I love the contrast of using fresh herbs or sprouts.

*The butter will help to make a smoother cheese ball if your grated cheese is a particularly dry mix (as opposed to softer cheeses like brie or blue).

Serve with crackers, fresh or dried fruit, and your favorite savory jelly.  Enjoy!

Yields 1 fist sized cheese ball. Leftovers will keep for up to a week if stored airtight in the fridge.