Antipasto Cheese Ball Christmas Tree - cooking recipe

Ingredients

For The Dip
4 cups cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced (or capsicum )
1/4 cup dill pickle, finely diced
1/4 cup chives, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt, to taste (optional)
For The Decorations
1 1/2 - 2 cups pitted mixed olives (I use a variety of black, green and Kalamata olives, dried with paper towel)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato, chopped (dried with paper towel)
6 rosemary, to decorate
Ritz crackers, water crackers or pretzel, for serving
salami, slices for serving
prosciutto, slices for serving
1 teaspoon salt

Preparation

In a bowl combine all the ingredients for the dip and mix until the ingredients are well combined.
Place a piece of non-stick plastic wrap on a clean bench top or work surface. Scoop the cream cheese mixture out onto the plastic wrap and completely cover with another piece of wrap (you may need two pieces to cover it).
Use your hands to mould the cream cheese into a tree shape. Then, carefully pick up the tree with one hand and peel off the plastic wrap on the bottom of the tree with your other hand. Place the tree straight onto a serving plate.
Use a cake spatula to smooth the edges. Decorate with olives, sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary leaves/sprigs, lightly pressing each element into the cream cheese to ensure they stay on. Brush with some sun dried tomato oil from the jar (optional but adds even more flavour)!
Top with a star cut out of a yellow or orange bell pepper OR a thick slice of cheese.
Serve with crackers of your choice, salami and prosciutto slices rolled up!
Recipe Notes.
The cream cheese is more stable in a wider tree shape rather than a tall, thin tree. The taller tree folds over and collapses.
If you find your cream cheese has softened too much and won't hold its shape, refrigerate it until it thickens again (about 20 minutes).
Pat dry each olive and sun dried tomato on a sheet of paper towel before decorating your tree to make sure they stay on, or they may slide off if covered in oil from the jar.