Pickle rollups in cheese ball form

 

These are basically Minnesota sushi inverted, so they seemed like a plausible thing to try for Super Bowl fare, when fancy seems a tad out of place.

Dill pickle cheese ball bites

Adapted from "Homestead Recipes" by Amanda Rettke of the I Am Baker blog. Makes about 20 cheese balls. I used these hamburger pickles.

Ingredients

1 8-ounce container cream cheese, softened
½ cup finely diced dill pickles plus ½ cup finely minced dill pickles, divided
½ cup diced ham
3 tablespoons ranch dressing seasoning mix
⅓ cup minced fresh chives
⅓ cup finely chopped pecans

Method

Line a large food storage box with waxed paper.

Mix cream cheese, ½ cup finely diced dill pickles, ham and seasoning mix in a medium bowl. Shape into small rounds, slightly more than ½-inch round. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Combine remaining minced pickles, chives and pecans in a small bowl. Roll cheese balls into mixture, pressing to coat well. Return to storage container and chill well until ready to serve.

Rating: A little too soft and messy for good finger food served couch-side. Definitely want to serve them as chilled as possible for structural integrity sake. Plus the flavor had intensified a bit more the second day. I kind of feel about these the same way I felt about the "undeviled eggs" that I decided really worked better in the more traditional form: Both were tasty enough versions, but no tastier, and decidedly harder to eat as finger food. 

If you want a good mini cheese ball that holds up as finger food, these mini rosemary roquefort cheese balls are the hot ticket.