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! 😂
I thought the old website was great but you’ve really topped it. Sorry to admit but I went straight for the Dozer button before looking around. Your love for him is so touching. Great site, great recipes. I haven’t had a dud yet! Merry Christmas to you both…and your Mum.
Loving the new website! But honestly, as long as I still get my “life of dozer” updates, I’m happy 😂 excited to try this recipe 👍🏻
What a good idea! also love the new website. x
Hi Nagi! I love the new site design, particularly the different categories and collections, and ‘quick and easy’ filter! Can’t wait to explore more. 🙂
The cheese log looks yummy and we’ll give it a whirl. As for the website, I’ll defer to others here and figure that I’ll adjust to change. I was used to the old website. At least this isn’t some radical departure. Merry Christmas.
Wow, the Web Site looks absolutely fab, love the new look and lay out x x
Love the new site design! And I will most definitely make the Italian cheese log for the holidays. Thank you for the culinary inspiration!
Loving the New website, Colourful, easy to navigate, Merry Christmas to you and Mum xX
Love the site and especially the cheese log, keep doing amazing food! 😃🎄
I just realized that i commented on the wrong post earlier lol , the new site is fab 😀
Love the new look and glad I can still link up to your mom’s site too!
I love the new website! It is very easy to find recipes and it looks classy. It is way cool!
Hi Nagi!
Love the new look website and how mobile friendly it is. Makes life easy browsing through woolies making sure I have all the ingredients I need for your recipes!
Love new font size, easier to read.
The new website looks great! I’ve enjoyed many of your recipes.
Hi Nagi, I’m an Aussie living in Germany. I discovered your website a few months ago and was delighted to find we have very similar tastes in food. I love how you go into detail with your recipe notes. It’s so helpful to understand why you chose a particular ingredient or method over another. Especially useful when you’re shopping for groceries in a foreign country!
Thank you for giving me a little taste of home in my inbox each week.
Cindy
Great new site! I love the colour combo and so far, have been able to browse and easily find what different recipes. Font is also easier to read. However, in this comment section, there is a required field called ‘website’. What does that mean?
Funny how something you’re looking for drops out of the sky ….like this Italian Cheese log recipe! I was searching last night for something other than the same-old …and here it is! Thanks!
Your site’s new dressy look is wonderful!
Your new website looks amazing, can’t wait to try all the new recipes!
Love the new look. Easy to navigate around and easier to find the recipes!! Well done!! Will be making this log this weekend!