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
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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! 😂
The new website looks great! We love the Asian beef bowl recipe! I used turkey and you would not know it wasn’t beef.😁
I love your website,recipes, you and Dozer! Your favorite foodie! Happy Holidays🎄
Website looks super!
Nagi, to be honest, I have always loved your website. Any improvements will be the icing on the cake! Thank you for making it even easier to enjoy!
Your new website is easy on the eyes and easy to navigate. Thanks for your hard work.
I am ‘in charge’ of the cheese/ crackers app. every Christmas, and this is going to make the whole meal better! The new website design is crisp & clean and your directions are always detailed. Your pictures, like usual, make me want to eat the page! I also am thrilled with the way the new format prints out. Easy, and super to work from! My favorite site…still! Merry Christmas!
Very easy to make and was delicious
Wow Nagi, you’ve done yourself proud with the the new website.
From top to bottom it’s filled with recipes and bright photos that accompany them. Jam packed with information and inspiration.
Last but by no means least is Dozer’s Den of hilarious antics he’s been up to.
Can’t wait to get stuck in exploring the new website. Well done!!! xx
I’m a cheese platter lover, this will be amazing to make instead! You are my go to girl!!
Absolutely love the new website
❤️❤️❤️
This recipe looks divine! Even though I am reading about it at 5:40AM, I wish I could taste it NOW! Your new website is very well laid out and easy to navigate!
Your new website is inviting, logical, easy on the eyes and brain : ) Looking forward to serving this recipe at family Christmas dinner. Thanks!
Hi Nagi. I really like the new website. Finding recipes is a breeze now. For us “older” cooks, I find that the light gray type can be hard to read and in one recipe when it ran over a picture it was almost impossible to read. Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes with all of us cooks out here!
Good morning Nagi, love, love the new website format. You made the change I definitely wanted … finding recipes easily!
Love your website! One of the easiest to navigate & great recipes!
Love the new website. Way easier to navigate, can’t wait to try this recipe out.
Great new website. Maybe a “top 10 most popular recipe” link too. Your baked wings brought me to your website.
The new website looks great Nagi, congratulations! and thanks for another tasty recipe.
LOVE the website facelift Nagi! It is still so easy to navigate and I enjoy the large beautiful photos. This cheese log sounds so good, too!
Hello. Love that you have added a recipe index by cuisine! There looks to be a glitch at the top of the page where the main menu selections are overwritten.
Your new website looks great. I like the look and the responsiveness; a fast server and connection. I testd a couple recipe searches. The search works well.