These dates, grapes and goats cheese super balls are a great sweet and savoury appetiser or a snack perfect for entertaining, for a work snack or even a lunch. A truly healthy and nutritious snack or dessert to share with family or friends.
I can't tell you exactly where I found this recipe a good few years back but I have had it written in my recipe book and have made it a few tens of times. It definitely originates from my habit of ripping off a little page corner in a newspaper or magazine which I sometimes do whenever I find some interesting and good recipe. I never end up preparing anything as per the original recipe but that's a different story altogether.
Going back to this recipe, I just love this combination of sweet with salty it just buzzes for me and if you like that too, you definitely are on the right page. It is just a great combo that really pleases my palate as well as taste buds. Those 'guys' (the balls) look impressive and they taste just as impressive.
I have tried them in a few variations and couldn't say which was better than another which is a great thing, right?
Variations for this snack balls
I will give you some ideas -just go to the recipe notes to see what other ingredients you may want to try and combine if you fancy getting a little adventurous but by choosing this snack you have already shown your adventurous side.
They may look a bit complicated to make at first glance but the truth is about to be revealed... they are really easy to assemble and you will have an outcome that is guaranteed to impress even yourself with, try with your guests as well.
Other recipes you may love to try:
All you need it's a few ingredients and you're ready to go.
Here we have this lovely recipe, as I'm pretty sure you can't wait any longer to find out about it, let's get rolling!
Dates, grapes and goat cheese super balls snack
Equipment
- knife
- chopping board
Ingredients
- 8 dates (pitted) (Medjoul variety is a must)
- 8 red grapes (seedless) nice and crisp
- 1 pinch pepper (freshly ground)
- 100 g goat cheese (aprox)
- 80 g pistachios (salted) chopped and toasted
Instructions
- I will start with most challenging part of this recipe and that is chopping the pistachio nuts and toasting them. Hard task hey? Once finished, put them on a plate and set aside.
- Place the grapes onto a plate and freshly ground for some black pepper over. Pepper will stick if they have been freshly washed and they are slightly damp otherwise you can put the paper into the cheese it's absolutely fine, or, coat the grapes in oil. * As you can see I have ground the pepper after placing the grapes inside the date.
- Cut open the dates and then slightly squeeze the dates to both ends to kind of open the cut a little bit. *
- Place each grape into the cut date. Be pretty gentle with carrying out this task.
- Divide the goats' cheese into eight equal pieces. Place each piece or chunk of cheese into your hands and flatten it with the heel of your other hand.
- Now it's time to assemble those little 'fellas' and you can do this by placing each date that already has a grape cushioned inside it on the flattened cheese. Bring the cheese around the date covering it completely.
- Roll these balls as you make them, one by one into the chopped pistachios and if those are not salted you could sprinkle some coarse sea salt over the nuts. It gives that perfect extra saltiness that it's really needed to complement the sweetness of this snack. You know what I mean, right?
Notes
- The recipe was calling for a bit of olive oil but I have left that out as I didn't find it necessary at all. It was for the pepper to stick to the grapes.
- A few more ingredients that you could use here: some coarse sea salt, a dash of Cayenne chilli pepper, flaked red dry chillies.
- If you don't like goats cheese, just use another type of cheese that has the same texture and it isn't made from goat's milk.
- Why pistachio nuts you may ask? Well, they look good, colourful and are really tasty as well as crunchy. You can certainly try and use different nuts such as walnuts, almonds, cashew, macadamia, etc.
Bon appétit! Please let me know what you think of those beauties. Did you like them as much I do?
Aleka says
I love the idea of putting the grape inside!! That’s like an extra surprise people would not expect! Love it!
Some bite sized appetizers and bonus that it goes perfectly with wine! 😉
Ramona says
Thank you Aleka
So true, always nice to have a surprise in a little bite like this - the cheese pairs so well with a good wine, you are so right!
Jacqueline Debono says
You had me at goat's cheese. I am such a fan! I love pistachios too! We have fabulous pistachios that I bought in Sicily which I'm going to use for these yummy snacks!
Ramona says
Thank you so much dear Jacqui,
I am pretty sure you will love these dates, grapes and goats cheese - they make a wonderful snack and are fab for entertaining. Pistachios from Sicily you said, oh wow, I am jealous. I have had some once from my cousin’s wife - she did get them in Sicily too and they were the best I have ever tasted with NO exagerration. I mean, everything that comes from Sicily is just gorgeous, I so dream to get over there.
Adrianne says
Oh yes please!! I love how you have explained this and that there is a only a few simple ingredients!! They look great, cheers!
Ramona says
Thank you so much Adrianne, it is really delicious and as you say with just the use of few ingredients. Great for parties and entertaining.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
This sounds like a perfect summer finger food for munching on with a glass of something. So many different textures and flavours too!
Ramona says
Absolutely bang on ;-), thank you so much Amanda xx
Laura says
Love the story of how you save the recipes whenever you see some good ones. I used to do it before and it never failed. Great snack - you are lucky you stumbled upon it many years ago.
Ramona says
Thank you so much Laura,
I still do it the old fasion way- I will always know where to find my things 😉 lol