Kick off the holidays with this festive Christmas Appetiser – an Italian Cheese Log! It’s like an antipasto platter in dip form packed with minced salami, olives, peppers, green onions, a hefty dose of Italian seasonings, AND topped with sun dried tomato.
Terrific easy, make-ahead economical alternative to expensive cheese platters – and bursting with the holiday cheer!!!
A FESTIVE CHRISTMAS APPETIZER IDEA!
Bringing on some Christmas cheer with this festive Italian Cheese Log!! It’s a far cry from your usual cheeseball with a handful of token flavourings. This one is jam packed with flavour…. loaded with Italian flavours!!
The secret ingredients in this are finely chopped salami and sun dried tomato. Taking the time to mince the salami really makes a difference because then it’s all throughout the cheese log – nobody wants to be that person who takes a giant scoop of dip only to find it’s completely devoid of salami!
As for the sun dried tomato – well, I contemplated putting it in the cheese log, but I simply couldn’t resist how great it looks when piled on top. Add a few sprigs of rosemary, and it just looks so fabulously festive – it’s a perfect Christmas appetiser for sharing!! 🎄🎄🎄
WHY YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE!
It would be so easy to ramble on and on about how great this Italian Cheese Log is, but you don’t need that. So let me just get right down to why you’ll love this!!
✅ Looks fabulous – a great Christmas appetiser made for sharing!
✅ Tastes incredible – packed with flavour!
✅ Easy
✅ Make ahead – keeps for up to a week*
✅ Makes loads
✅ But can also be scaled down
✅ Economical alternative to expensive cheese platters
✅ Adaptable and versatile! Skip the salami to make it meatless, change up the add ins!
* Subject to shelf life of salami
AN ANTIPASTO PLATTER – IN CHEESE LOG FORM!
I just love the colours in this. Even making it brings on the holiday cheer – look at all those colours! ↑↑↑
We’ve got salami, olives, chargrilled peppers (I like to use the jar with mixed colours – yellow and red – just for extra colour), cheese, and a nice hit of freshness from minced green onion.
Add a good dose of Italian seasonings – I like to make my own simple mix here but you can absolutely substitute with an Italian seasoning mix – then simply mix it all together, scrap into a loaf pan or freeform it into the shape of a log and refrigerate.
The refrigeration time is to firm it up so it can be turned out onto a platter and also to give it time for the flavours to meld. It’s terrific made on the day, but it’s even better the next day… and the next… and the next!
QUICK FESTIVE LOOK
Decorating it is my favourite part – the beauty of it being that it’s so easy!! I literally just dump an entire jar of sun dried tomatoes over the top – oil and all.
The oil is infused with flavour and it’s part of the overall eating experience. So with every bite, you have crisp salty crackers, the soft flavour packed Cheese Log, some extra pops of flavour from sun dried tomato AND juiciness from the sun dried tomato oil.
Ahhhh, it’s the perfect bite!!! 😇
If your people are more civilised than mine, then consider serving this Italian Cheese Log with small cheese knifes to spread onto crackers.
But if your people are like mine, you’ll skip the cutlery and just let everyone dive in with their hands, grabbing crackers and dunking it straight into the cheese log.
Yep, it’ll get messy. All that effort you go to, prettying it up and they are going to annihilate it.
And that’s totally ok. That’s what sharing food is all about, right?? Especially during the festive season! 😂 – Nagi x
MORE CHRISTMAS APPETISER IDEAS!
CHRISTMAS APPETISER – ITALIAN CHEESE LOG!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Christmas Appetiser: Italian Cheese Loaf
Ingredients
Cheese Log:
- 500g/ 1 lb cream cheese , softened (Note 1)
- 1/3 cup sour cream (Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp EACH thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, black pepper OR 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp EACH garlic powder, salt, red pepper/chilli flakes (adjust to taste)
- 2 cup cheddar or other cheese , freshly grated (Note 3)
- 280g / 9 oz roasted peppers , drained and finely chopped
- 180g / 6 oz salami , finely chopped (Note 4)
- 3/4 cup green olives , finely chopped
- 1/3 cup green onion , finely minced (3 - 4 stalks)
Topping/serving:
- 220g / 7 oz sun dried tomato strips with OIL , roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup parsley , finely chopped (or chives)
- Rosemary sprigs (decoration)
- Jatz or other crackers , for serving
Instructions
- Spray a loaf pan with oil then line with cling wrap with overhang.
- Mix Cheese Log ingredients together. Taste and adjust salt if needed (bear in mind saltiness of crackers you are serving with).
- Scrape into loaf pan and level surface, pressing to remove air pockets. Smaller pan = taller loaf.
- Cover with cling wrap overhang and refrigerate for 4 hours+ (up to 1 week).
- Turn out onto platter, peel off cling wrap.
- Top with sun dried tomato and pour over oil. Garnish with parsley and rosemary sprigs to give it a festive look.
- Best to serve closer to room temp than fridge cold. Serve with crackers! Knives for smearing optional - it's soft enough to scoop with crackers.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Cute Christmassy photos of Dozer is all part of the Christmas tradition. Except…… he fell asleep mid photo shoot! 😂
Faith says
New website is great! I like the way you made it easier to get to multiple recipes at once. I think you are pretty great and Dozer too, no matter what!!
Kara says
Love the new website 👍🏻
Fenny says
Love your old and new website. Always amaziiiing. Love the photos and videos……
Lori says
Fantastic photos! I’ve loved every recipe that I have made of yours. Easy to follow recipes.
Caroline says
love the “By Category” section because that’s how I think of food. The whole website looks brighter and fresher.
Brenton Foote says
Love your recipes, always sending links to mates/friends and family that want to know where all the great food and easy recipes come from!
Cynthia Swajkowsli says
What website? I love reading your recipes and have tried several. I feel as if you are in the room and we are talking about food. Thank you for recipe notes. They really help.
Sherly says
The new website looks fantastic, though, truthfully, most of the time, I check your recipes on Instagram, and it’s quicker to just scroll down the recipe and the video there.
Lori Childs says
Fantastic photos. I’ve loved every recipe I have tried of yours! Clear directions to follow.
Gary says
Appreciate the larger font for the recipe cards!
Wendy O'Brien says
website looks great – uncluttered and user friendly 🙂
Carole Shaw says
Hello Nagi,
I love your new site!…so easy to find things.
The photos are great!
Recipes are easy and delish!
Thank you for the hard work you go to, to make your site one that is lovely to visit.
Merry Christmas to you and Dozer xxx
Dhanya Samuel says
Loved it especially because it loads much faster now.
Tina Driver says
Love your new format and look forward to every post.. your recipes are wonderful and easy to follow!
Nicole Hamilton says
Love this and having something yummy I can do for Christmas for my vegetarian daughter. Thank you. Love the new website
Julie Watson says
Hi Nagi, I have just used your new website and I love it! As it’s new I also printed a recipe and it’s easy to use and the print out also is easy to read with a good layout. I’ll let you know if I find anything that you may wish to tweak but so far -Well done! Wishing love, peace and happiness to you, your mum and of course Dozer! over Christmas and for the coming New Year, Hugs, Jules
Cathy Tomkins says
Loved looking around the website . Its really user friendly and I love it.
Gabrielle says
I this your an amazing cook Nagi. Your recipes have never failed me and I just love the variety and flavour. If I am ever stuck on what to cook (which is often) I go straight to your website. Love your work and a Merry Christmas,
Bridget says
Fantastic new website design!
It is much easier to find recipes. Your recipes are well constructed easy to follow and use. I love the videos. I use the with my young adult children who are learning to cook. Thank you Nagi (and of course your mum!)
Julie Marshall says
Just what I needed! Easy, colourful, flavour filled yum! Thank you! Love the website.