Olive Cheese Balls

Olive Cheese Balls

As I sat shivering inside my cold apartment wondering what ever happened to global warming, I tried to think of a tasty excuse to warm up the kitchen with an oven-baked treat. I finally settled on these baked olive cheese balls. Imagine a plump green olive nestled in a slightly spicy and crispy cheese pastry. For a maximum burst of flavor, I suggest you use an extra old Cheddar cheese. I'm quite certain you could substitute small sautéed button mushrooms for the olives. Better yet, double this recipe and make both.

Olive Cheese Balls


Olive Cheese BallsOlive Cheese Balls
Recipe by
Published on February 25, 2008

Plump green olive baked in a slightly spicy and crispy cheese pastry — a simple and perfect appetizer

Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup fresh grated old Cheddar cheese
  • 1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • generous pinch of cayenne
  • 1 small egg, beaten
  • 15 to 20 plump green olives, pitted
Instructions:
  • Preheat an oven to 400°F and grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, using a fork, combine the cheese, butter, flour, and cayenne. Stir in the egg until well combined. Flatten about a tablespoons worth of dough on the palm of your hand and enclose each olive with the dough. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese balls turn golden brown. Serve warm.

Makes 15 to 20 appetizers

Olive Cheese Balls

16 comments:

Johanna GGG said...

wow these look so perfect and so full of cheese - they would be fantastic finger food at a party - although I imagine it is a bit of work to wrap them

Peter M said...

What a lovely meze these would make. I must try these out.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, do these ever look fantastic! I think they'd be the perfect thing to serve at a dinner party (or just a dinner, come to think of it!).

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I would love to try these little bites of flavour...perfect for cocktails...sounds very fancy smancy doesn't it "D

Kalai said...

2 of my favorites brought together... Sounds like a marriage made in heaven! :)

Vineela said...

Hi Lisa,
Loved the soups roundup.Excited to next months theme.
Never came across these chessy olive balls.
thank you.
Vineela

Anonymous said...

Lisa, these are delicious, thank you sooooo much for posting this. My son loves olives and cheese so these were a BIG hit with him. They were yummy an I will make them again (often :-))
hugs niki

Thistlemoon said...

This looks so FREAKING GOOD! I love olives and cheese and pastry - so what movie do you want me to bring over? ;)

Stuti Garg said...

I enjoyed the picture.

Have you tried making them with a cheese substitute?

Thanks.

Lisa Turner said...

Stuti;

No, I have never tried them with cheese substitute, so I'm not sure if they would work out the same.

Thistlemoon said...

I made these this weekend for movie night - they rocked!!!

Chef Erik said...

Holy guacamole, I'm making them tomarrow, I'm gona try it with some spicy olives...great app :)

Cris said...

These look fantastic!

Dibs said...

This is superb. I replaced egg with corn flour and water.

niki said...

6 and a half years since my comment here for these lovely little treats and I am making these again today (have made them many times inbetween these years). The weather is cold here in the UK today and I feel like making my family little treats for when they get home from work. These are great but the only problem is, that I can never make enough of them, they get gobbled up so fast :-) thanks lisa, love all your recipes but this has got to be one of my favourites and most reproduced on of all x niki

Lisa Turner said...

I am delighted you enjoy them so much. Thanks for taking the time to leave another comment and thank you for your continued readership. xo