For an easy and delectable side dish, this quinoa is spiced with flavorful Mediterranean and Indian ingredients.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 1 cheese ball |
Ingredients
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 4 ounces goat cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- ½ clove garlic, minced, or more to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup whole almonds, or as needed
- 3 large fresh rosemary sprigs
Instructions
- Stir cream cheese, goat cheese, parsley, tarragon, thyme, garlic, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper together in a bowl until smooth and well-mixed.
- Turn cheese mixture out onto a serving platter and form into a tapered oval shape to resemble a pine cone.
- Starting at the tapered end, press almonds into the cheese cone so that the tip of the almond is facing out and down, and cheese cone is completely covered with almonds and resembles a pine cone. Place rosemary sprigs at the top to resemble pine needles.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 176 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 36 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 130 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Fantastic
Super easy and fun to make. I make this at holiday time
Delicious! I tried the cheeseball mix and was worried that it would be too bland so I warned everyone. I was wrong. When eaten on a cracker with an almond or two AND a bit of smoked salmon– it’s amazing! I HIGHLY recommend serving with smoked salmon. It is not in my photo as I took the photo prior to placing the crackers & smoked salmon on the plate. This was a hit at the holiday party!
Definitely make it again
This was a big hit at the party! I added lemon pepper, too. I think you could use almost any cheese ball recipe, but this one is really good. Took to a party of about 12 & there was a lot left over, so you might want to half it. Also, I mixed the ingredients and refrigerated overnight; instead of forming the cone on the plate, as shown in video, I put the refrigerated spread on a piece of plastic wrap to form the cone, placed on platter. And I used smoked almonds…I think honey roasted would be pretty too!
Great!!! Brought it to a party and everyone was impressed with the presentation and taste!!!
Delicious and impressive! I did a taste test with roasted and raw almonds, and roasted won hands down. Couldn’t find fresh tarragon, so used probably about 1/4 tsp. dried, and I think that worked just fine. Also used about twice as much garlic as the recipe called for, and used garlic salt instead of plain salt. I love garlic. Used saran sprayed with cooking spray to help mold the pinecones shape. It did make a lot! Everyone loved it and took pictures.
I added a face using olives, and reversed the direction of the almonds to make a hedgehog version!
Easy & delicious!!
Beautiful presentation with this Pine Cone, very tasty and nothing left at the end of the night.
This was so yummy and pretty easy to make. It did not look as pretty as his when I was done… but that’s always the case. I did roast the almonds before using them. I highly recommend this for any party.
Quite labor intensive but turned out great, relatives raved over the taste. I used a little extra goat cheese and bought a truffle blend instead of plain goat cheese. Would make this again!
This was delicious. It did not take long to assemble. I would half the recipe for a smaller pine cone as the recipe is quite a large portion. Way to go Chef John! I served this to a group of Australians and at first sight they said, “Is that a hedgehog! Wait a minute its a pine cone!” Too funny from my Aussie friends.
Everybody loves the presentation! Guests hesitate digging in for fear of recking the artwork. The recipe is for a lot of people so you may want to cut back. It’s not saveable as the nuts will go soggy.
yummy recipe I read reviews and played it safe using only 1/2 the tarragon called for! I’d make it again, super cute too!
I made this for our Thanksgiving. It was extraordinary and much easier than I had anticipated.
I used my own olive cheese ball recipe. Everyone thought it was quite a masterpiece! I am not creative and this was fun and easy! I impressed myself!
Loved the cheese with all of the herbs, but the almonds got soft and odd tasting. Is there something that can be done so this does not happen?
The only problem I had was everyone thought it was to pretty to eat!
The best thing about this is the presentation which is 5 stars plus!! I am not a goat cheese fan, so I substituted cream cheese. I also mixed in 1/2 cup shredded “mexican blend” cheese (cheddar, monterey jack, & asedro), 1 tsp of fresh garlic, 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper, a tsp. of grated onion and then rolled it in cooked, bacon bits before shaping it to add almonds.
Delicious! And a real showpiece of an appetizer! Though there were too many almonds for spreading on crackers. Had to leave some on the plate. Would make a delicious cheese spread if undecorated and shaped into a ball instead.