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! 😂
I have tried many of your recipes and have yet to be disappointed. Can’t wait to try the cheese log
Hi Nagi, what a fantastic resource you have created!
I’ve only used your website for a few weeks so a bit hard to make immediate comparisons, however it’s very easy to find recipes I’m interested in. What would be really useful is a permanent floating ‘return to the top’ button at the side, a bit like the ebay one. Some of the pages are really long so it can be a bit of a pain scrolling all the way back up.
Love the new website! It looks beautiful even on my dinky phone! Merry Christmas!
Love the new site! Much easier to read 😎
Nagi, the new.website look is over the top fabulous. So fresh and easy to navigate! Love it. I cannot wait to make this cheese log for my Christmas party! Have a terrific Christmas and big hug to Dozer!
Love the new website! The multiple categories make it really easy to find just the right recipie for any occasion while the search function remains to quickly pull up those go to favorites. Thanks for a great and enteraining site Nagi.
The new page looks fantastic, love it! and I got to say your pictures are always as great and tempting **drooling**
Happy holidays!
Love your new layout.
Bold, Clear and concise.
Pictures “pop!!”
Very happy Dozer is still starring.
Happy Christmas Nagi.
The site is a lot more asthetically pleasing than the old one and easy to browse. Had a quick look through and see lots of delicious recipes I am planning to try. I use your site for special occasions and Aldo for something different during the week. Love the variety.
I really like that the option to jump to the recipe is easy to find when I’m using my phone.
Hi Nagi, I’ve been a quiet follower for a while. Loving the great new website design, it looks super fresh!
Dozer looks cute as always, especially him falling asleep amongst the Christmassy decorations!
Looking forward to all the Christmas recipes you’re uploading! Great work 🙂
I really like the new website! And the Italian Cheese Log will be made soon. Yum
Can’t wait to make this for my holiday party next week.
Love the new site layout, especially the new design to find recipes.
This appy looks great will make for Xmas eve,thanks.Love dozer.
Such a great idea, delicious and easy to make for Christmas party I’m going to try this for my job 😊
I like your choice of putting the sundried tomatoes on top instead of mixing them in.
Love the new website. Very easy to navigate.
Love, love the new look of your website!!!
The colours and the display is much more user friendly.
OMG! This recipe looks sooooo good! I’m going to do it for Christmas for sure! Thank you! By the way, the new design of your website is great! The navigation is a lot easier!
You must be so proud to launch this new version of your website. The old version won friends and followers, now this one is like giving them a Christmas gift. It’s beautiful, and I’m so happy Dozer is along for the ride. Merry Christmas, Nagi!