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 was checking one of your recipes while at the supermarket and went..oh wow .. .. what is this .. (miss the email). Very pleasantly surprised by the new look- woohoo – LOVE IT!! I’ve been extremely busy trying out your cookies; made three different kinds for a Christmas function – everyone loved it – Thanks Nagi and well done on the new look – great job! Now I must try this amazing looking appetiser:)
ahhh dozer is so cute<33. love the new website. It's simple but also easier to navigate. sometimes a bit laggy/glitchy but overall good. Imo colors [the navy and salmon] not for me though. love how your dishes are very easy to understand even after all this time 🙂 keep it up!
The videos get me in avery time! Highlighted words like “Easy” and “Economical” are good as well.
Being a sucker for dogs, photos of Dozer are a must!!
Another delicious recipe, just in time to make & contribute to Christmas lunch with friends. Love your recipes with photos and videos on the website. Look forward to my regular email recipes. Thank you.
Your new website is the cutting edge, excuse the pun.
Love Recipeatins for never fail recipes.
Great tasty treat for a crowd.
The new website is easy & I am loving you are in Australia & I don’t have to work out measurements
Happy Christmas
This is going to be my favourite Christmas appetiser, I may find it in my fridge all year round!
Smooth and easy to navigate, I give the new form 2 👍
This is another amazing, easy to make crowd-pleasing dish – just like all your recipes! Love the new web layout – the Japanese Recipes section is a welcome addition. Don’t stop – you are an inspiration!
Beautiful and tasty! Thanks for the great holiday appetizer
WOW Looking forward to making the Italian Cheese Log next week. Love your recipes and a big 👍🏼 to you new look website.
I made this Italian Cheese log
Love it! A big hit with my guest.
This recipe has it all. Sure sounds good!
Love all your recipes I’ve made and the Italian cheese log looks great and will be trying it very soon !
Great new layout. Easy to use and find recipes. Love the Dozer page! This new cheese log looks great. I love cheese so can hardly wait to try it. Making it tomorrow for company.
Sorry I forgot to comment to comment on the new Fabulous Website. It look Great Nagi. Looking forward to many more new or revamped recipes to go with it.
Looks like we may have a new Christmas Eve appetizer on the menu. Another great recipe as usual Nagi. Love the Dozer pics too!
Nagi I absolutely love your new design! Dozer’s own page is the best!
I come to this website daily to make something to eat. I have made well over 50 recipes and they do not disappoint! You are wonderful, Dozer is adorable, and I am so happy that I found your recipes!
Hi Nagi, I love the updated website & logo. The only thing I’ve noticed is the colour of the page number when searching, it’s a bit hard to tell which page I’m on. Thanks for all the amazing recipes this year. Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. Anna
I love the feature photos! The photography quality draws you into the recipes and makes you want to try them. And the best part is that your recipes have never let me down, they turn out as expected and make me look like a really good cook! I really like the quick dinner recipes option, lifesaver! And of course DOZER!!!! My only suggestion would be to have an index. Thanks Nagi, for your wonderful e-mails and website. It’s so inspiring!!!