Strawberries stuffed with "cheese"

Assuming you made the almond cheese you may have a little leftover. Even after taking most of the last batch of cheese to cooking class on Wednesday I still had a little in the refrigerator staring at me every time I opened the door. Fortunately the cheese was next to the package of strawberries so it was natural to combine them.

I have always loved anything with cheese on it or in it and this almond cheese is no exception. The light flavor of the cheese works beautifully anywhere you would use ricotta or cream cheese.

I added the walnut to have a little texture in the cheese, and to increase my overall consumption of walnuts. Since reading the findings that were presented at the American Association of Cancer Research annual meeting, I have been trying to increase our intake of walnuts.

Strawberries contain ellagic acid which has been shown to slow tumor growth significanly in mice. Ellagic acid has been shown to block the transformation of environmental carcinogens into toxic substances. It is important to buy organic strawberries whenever possible since they tend to a highly sprayed crop.

This recipe was very quick and came together in under 5 minutes. It took me longer to clean up after myself than it did to make the stuffed berries.

Strawberries stuffed with sweetened almond cheese and walnuts
makes 8 large stuffed strawberries

Ingredients:

¼ cup of almond based feta cheese
2 teaspoons of agave nectar
12 walnuts halves
8 strawberries
4 walnuts halves cut into 8 pieces for garnish

Directions:

Add almond cheese, walnuts and agave to the food processor and pulse to combine. You still want a little walnut texture to remain.

Cut the bottom off the strawberries so that they will stand up on a plate. Remove the top of the strawberries and using a paring knife cut a pocket into the inside of the berries.

Stuff the sweetened almond cheese into the strawberries. Garnish with a small piece of walnut. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

These make nice light dessert that would be perfect for mother’s day. These stuffed berries also a nice appetizer.

Variations:

1) You could add a balsamic drizzle and freshly ground black pepper for garnish.
2) If you add finely chopped dark chocolate and candied orange zest these would be more like cannoli stuffed strawberries.

Comments:

You may need to add more agave if your berries aren’t sweet, or you have a sweet tooth. I always eat a few berries first to see how sweet they are before I decide how much agave is required. I think these make a nice light dessert that doesn’t leave you wishing you hadn’t eaten it an hour later. Enjoy!