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! 😂
Love the new website 🙂
I love the Quick and Easy Button!!!!
Omg N, so many yummy recipes all at once! I just saw those kind of homemade gourmet crackers a few days ago on another site, but their’s were store bought. Now I’m so excited that I can make my own crackers! Oh, the possibilities and with that yummy Italian cheese log! I’m talking about the dried cranberries and seeds one…in case your frowning. 😂
I love your new website even more now N, but seeing all this yummy food to make all at once, it’s making my tummy growl!
I’m also loving the Christmas pic of Dozer! What did u do, tire him out with taking too many pics of him? 😂
Wow, he has his own section now! I see u have new pics of yourself too…like. You are photogenic, I’m not!
Have a great weekend coming up with Dozer! J x
The 5 stars didn’t work for me N, just to let you know.
Great recipe to have in my file. So far, so good on the site design. Easy, but didn’t find your retired mama’s recipes! I’ll keep looking.
Love the new layout on the website! Much easier to read and navigate.
Have tried many recipe sites in the past, but not one compares with the quality of yours. Old great, new really fantastic. Many thanks. Evelyn
Congratulations Nagi on your new, clear and simple format. It is full of Sydney sunshine and warmth and supereasy to navigate. And love the cheese loaf with its salami, peppers and olives and all the palate-tingling spices: recipe already in the kitchen for next week ! Just – do you have to be such a perfectionist in your photography and have your models go to sleep on you . . . 🙂 ?
recipe looks delicious. Loving the new website design, super fresh looking and so easy to navigate.
As usual a great looking dish with minimal fuss but maximum taste.
Love the new look easy to navigate via categories.
A quick Dozer doggy fix button too!
recipe looks delicious. Loving the new website design, so easy to navigate and looks fresh.
Great website.
easy to navigate and the pictures are much more bolder.
Love the new website! Everything is easier to read and love the different option you give after the recipe.
Recipe looks delicious! Love the new website also, simple and easy to navigate 🙂
Love it! new photo, same baby hands…LOL….congrats Nagi.
This recipe is a winner, I’m drooling just thinking about it; I will be adding chilli and using fresh herbs from my garden.
Pick Aunty Barb Dozer!
Wow, website sure looks great. Even just changing the font makes it so much easier to read! Going to try one of these starters for Xmas day.
Love the new website, easy to navigate around.
This recipe will be on my list for a Christmas appetizer.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE add to your website the ability to start saving your recipes to our own individual recipe box. Yours is only one of three websites out there that I go to for recipes. I love yours but it’s so hard to look for past recipes if I can’t remember the exact name or can’t find where I wrote it down! Yours is the only one that doesn’t have a recipe saver option!!!!!! You would be my number one go to if you had that. Please consider doing this.
Hi Karen……
I’m a Nagi stalker!
If I’m after an older recipe, eg a salmon recipe, I search ‘salmon’ and all the salmon recipes pop up.
Love the easy to navigate recipes on the new website ,so pleased Doser was included in the “ new look “
Regards Elaine
Your new website looks so appealing and easy to checkout all your wonderful recipes.
Your new website layout is colorful and fun. Its easier to find recipes. I love it!