Ingredients
Method
- Prep strawberries and spinach. Gently wash strawberries and review for quality. You want ripe but firm strawberries that will be able to stand up once properly prepped. Make sure spinach is also washed and dry, try not to bruise it.
- With a pairing knife, cut off top of strawberry just below the stem. Then carefully carve out the center part of stem, hulling it out and making room for the filling. Do not cut through the body of the strawberry. If you poke through a bit, that should be fine as the filling isn’t runny. It just needs to stay together.
- Carefully slice off the bottom tip of the strawberry to create a flat surface. Check to see if the strawberry can now stand up on a plate by itself. Adjust the cut if off balance.
- Place prepped strawberries in a bowl and drizzle about half the balsamic vinegar over. Gently toss (I use my hands, so they do not get bruised) and drizzle more vinegar over, reserving a couple tablespoons for plating if desired. Place in refrigerator. While the strawberries marinade, begin making the filling.
- Place the whipped cream cheese in a medium bowl. If using plain cream cheese, you will need to whip it up to make it light and fluffy first.
- Mash up the blue cheese into small bits and add the cream cheese. Mix well so that the blue cheese breaks down into very small bits. You don’t want them to get stuck while piping.
- Place mixture into a piping bag (or plastic food bag where you can cut off the tip easily.)
- Take strawberries out of fridge, and place them standing upright on a tray. Pipe in cheese mixture halfway up.
- Place a spinach leaf down into the strawberry. You want part in and part sticking out. I like to have them against the side for ease.
- Then fill in more cheese mixture to top of strawberry mounding it up a bit.
- Place walnut bits over top. If you have extra blue cheese, a bit of extra crumble here looks nice as well.
- Sparingly drizzle a few drips of balsamic vinegar over top.
Notes
Strawberry size: It’s not always easy to find large strawberries. Medium size ones will work, it just may be a bit trickier to place spinach leaves in. Cut them in long half moons if you need to size them down.