Recipe courtesy of Michelle Buffardi

Nacho Jack-o'-Lantern Cheese Ball

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You don't really need any fancy equipment to make a cheese ball; as long as the cream cheese is at room temperature, you can mix everything in a bowl with a spatula. I just like to use a mixer because it's easier. I prefer to buy a brick of cheese and shred it myself; the pre-shredded cheese has a funny texture from the powdery stuff added to keep the shreds separate. And to crush the Doritos, you can put some in a resealable plastic bag and roll over it with a rolling pin or wine bottle. Or you can buy a medium-size bag of chips, remove (eat) half, roll the top of the bag down, and crush the Doritos in the bag. That option is as satisfying as it sounds.
  • Level: Easy
  • Total: 2 hr 15 min
  • Prep: 15 min
  • Inactive: 2 hr
  • Yield: 1 cheese ball
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Ingredients

Directions

  1. Put the cream cheese, Cheddar, onions, salsa, cumin and jalapeno into the bowl of a mixer, and blend thoroughly. Form into a pumpkin-like shape, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. 
  2. Before serving, roll the cheese ball in the crushed Doritos. Arrange the cheese ball on a plate, and press the bell pepper stem into the top - it should like a mini pumpkin stem. 
  3. You can serve the pumpkin as-is, or break off pieces of black bean chips to form a Jack-o'-lantern face. The chip pieces should adhere to the pumpkin cheese ball if you gently press them onto it, but you can also stick them on using a very small dab of the cheese ball mixture on the back of the black bean chip features; this will act like glue. Serve the cheese ball with black bean chips, crackers or crudites.

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