Herbed Ricotta Cheese Balls

5 from 1 vote

These herbed ricotta cheese balls are flavored with thyme and then rolled in herbs, spices or nuts. Perfect as party food for the holidays or other celebrations, they will impress your guests but are so easy to make. This recipe makes approximately 10 herbed ricotta balls.

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: Appetizer, Party food, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American, British

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: balls

Calories: 71kcal

Author: Claire

Ingredients

For the ricotta balls

1 cup ricotta
1 small slice white bread
1 teaspoon dried thyme or herb of choice
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar
pinch salt
pinch black pepper optional

For the ricotta balls toppings

¼ cup pistachio nuts unsalted
1 teaspoon turmeric
¼ cup fresh parsley finely diced
1 tablespoon sweet paprika

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Blend the white bread in a food processor to make bread crumbs. Set aside. Blend the pistachio nuts with a few pulses of a food processor to chop into small pieces.
Tip the ricotta into a large bowl, draining of any liquid in the container first. Mix in the breadcrumbs, vinegar, thyme (or herb of your choice), salt and pepper (if using). Adjust with more breadcrumbs if required.
Using a melon baller or spoon, scoop out some of the ricotta mixture and form into a ball using your hands.
Separately sprinkle the pistachio nuts, parsley and sweet paprika and turmeric on a chopping board or in a bowl. Roll the ball in the nuts, herb or spice. Coat evenly. Repeat for the rest of the balls, trying to keep them about the same size.
Arrange on a board or plate, and add a cocktail stick. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

Add the breadcrumbs gradually so that you achieve the consistency of preference.
Drain any excess liquid from the ricotta as it is quite a wet cheese, and it won't hold together as well if too wet. If you feel that your ricotta mixture is still too wet add more breadcrumbs to the mixture.
Personally I would make sure you use salt, and the thyme or herb of choice to make the balls as ricotta is a very mild flavour by itself.

Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance

All ingredients score 0 on the SIGHI list with the exception of:

bread crumbs, as wheat scores a 1.
black pepper, which scores 2, although the list states that small amounts are tolerated.
apple cider vinegar, which scores 1.

Nutrition