Cheeseball:
8 oz cream cheese softened
4 oz (half stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup freshly shredded Asiago
1 cup freshly shredded Sharp Cheddar
1 head garlic, roasted, squeezed out and minced (cut off top of head, place on foil, drizzle with olive oil, fold up foil leaving room around garlic, roast at 400 for 45 minutes)
OPTIONS: add fresh or freeze dried chives, maybe 1 to 2 T? 1.5 tsp dried dill? or 1/2 packet Ranch dressing mix; Sub blue cheese for the Asiago, reducing to 1/2 cup or to taste. Really any cheese with a good flavor would work! Aged, smoked, whatever!
COATING OPTIONS: I usually use well chopped pecans that I roast first. 5 minutes at 350 keeping close eye on them! You can toss the pecans with dried parsley - just eyeball it, maybe 1-2 T. Cooked, crumbled bacon is another great option to mix with the pecan coating. Another good variation is to roast the chopped pecans in a frying pan over medium heat with 1 tsp brown sugar. Stir until sugar melts, coats the nuts and starts to caramelize. Then remove from heat and stir in your herbs and or bacon.
SHAPING TIP: Line a glass cereal bowl with plastic wrap, extra hanging over the sides. Pack cheeseball mixture down into bowl, pressing firmly and leveling off the top. Fold extra plastic wrap back over it and pop it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. When firm use the plastic wrap to help lift it out of the bowl - peel off wrap and roll in topping. I like this because it's easy, fast and gives it a nice flat bottom for sitting on the serving plate.
BUTTER TIP: Pretty much any cheeseball recipe I've ever made is improved by adding the 1/2 stick of softened butter! Learned that from making them from mixes I used to buy years ago that had that as an option on the box! You could use salted butter but only if you don't add other really salty things, like ranch dressing mix.