Cheese balls

I love amuse your bouche I’ve been a fan of her recipes for years - from well before Joshua came onto the scene. So when I needed some inspiration for new meal ideas for Joshua this weekend (and, importantly, to replenish our dwindling freezer stocks) I went straight to there. Amongst a whole host of other recipes, the carrot and cheddar bites caught my eye. As ever, I played about a bit with the ingredients, and I came up with these...cheese balls with carrot, parsnip and spinach. To keep things baby-friendly, in adapting the recipe I tried to reduce the salt content and up the veg and nutrient content. The original recipe called for 100g of breadcrumbs but I’m conscious of the salt content in bread (on top of the salt in the cheese) so I replaced half the breadcrumbs with oats. The original recipe also just includes carrots, so I introduced parsnips and spinach to add some extra variety, vitamins and minerals. The vitamin C from the carrot and parsnip will also help the body to absorb the iron from the spinach. The quantities I used made about 25 balls, but you could easily halve the quantities to make less if you want. As ever, you can also swap the veggies I’ve used for other ones you may have lying about - just be mindful of the different moisture contents and the effects that may have on texture and cooking time. Cooking (unlike baking), is rarely an exact science, so have fun and play about with your ingredients. The ingredients I used are... 50g of fresh breadcrumbs (or one slice of fresh bread blitzed up) 50g oats - blitzed up to coarse texture 100g cheddar cheese, finely grated 1 carrot, finely grated 1 parsnip, finely grated Small handful of frozen spinach, defrosted, squeezed dry and chopped 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin (or herbs or spices of your choice) To make... - mix all ingredients well - using your hands, squeeze the mix into balls - place the balls on slightly oiled baking tray - lightly spray the balls with oil, or carefully roll the balls in the oil on the tray - bake at 180’C for 20-30 mins until golden

These would be great as a mess-free snack or as part of a meal. 

Eat fresh, refrigerate or freeze. Enjoy x