Amputated Appetizer- Three Cheeses in Prosciutto

After starting off my 'Summer of Halloween' blogs with a way cool candy recipe, now we're really off and running with Halloween spirit with this gruesome appetizer. This is an idea from my friend, Zach. Last Halloween, he made this way-cool appetizer shaped like a hand. The hand was made of goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto and he served it on a cutting board with a knife through it. It was pure genius! I loved it! In fact, I loved it so much, I've been waiting all year to make it! And that time has come...

I've adapted Zach's recipe just slightly however, instead of using all goat cheese to shape the arm, I added a mozzarella roll to make the arm portion. I like the idea of the mozzarella roll because it gives the impression of the bone sticking out. Plus it adds another tasty cheese to the platter. Serve it on a cutting board along side some eyeballs (olives) and you'll have instant creepiness... you'll get a ton of 'oohs' and 'icks' but after they taste it...you'll get nothing but 'Mmms'! 

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Thanks for the great idea Zach!

Amputated Appetizer: Three Cheeses wrapped in Prosciutto
Serves a crowd

2- 4oz packages goat cheese (I used one herbed and one plain)
2-8 oz packages cream cheese
1 package prosciutto
1 mozzarella, basil and prosciutto roll

Bring cream cheese and goat cheese to room temperature and mix well. Return to refrigerator to cool down and firm up about 45 minutes.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Use small and large cookie scoops to scoop out the cheese mixture onto the parchment. Use the large scoop for the palm of the hand and the small scoop for the fingers. Don't worry about it looking like a hand at this stage, it will look like a very lumpy, stumpy blob. See?

Now this is where a little patience will need to kick in. Using a small spatula, begin molding your hand and fingers. This will take a while but don't worry if it doesn't look proportional, once you put the prosciutto on, then you'll be able to mold it a lot easier, since it will be covered with it's skin, so to speak. 

 

 

Begin layering prosciutto, wrapping the slices around the fingers. You may need to refrigerate it to firm it up if it becomes too soft.

Some of the prosciutto will extend where the wrist will be. This is okay. You will use the overlapping prosciutto to attach the mozzarella roll.

Sorry this is a blurry picture but I wanted to get this shot to show how to attach the arm to the hand. :)

Apply a little pressure as you stick the mozzarella roll into the goat cheese portion of the hand.

Roll the prosciutto back over the mozzarella roll. Add a few more slices of prosciutto until you get the desired effect.  I chose to leave some of the mozzarella roll uncovered so it would look like bone sticking out. Pretty creepy huh?

Now you are ready to mold the hand and fingers and fine tune your appendage. I squeezed the wrist area a bit and thinned out the fingers. Later, I ended up moving the thumb down a bit more as well but it's not captured in this picture. 

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it's firm enough to move to a platter or cutting board. Happy 'early' Halloween! Enjoy!

Other Halloween-inspired recipes to try:
Candy Corn Peppermint Patties
Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte
Zombie Hummus