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 really liked the old site, but now i love the new format. I do agree with a commenter below. Light gray is not recommended for older eyes. I’m so glad you still have your mother included in your new site!
Your site has been my go to for a year now. Have my family subscribed as well. Really appreciate the authentic flavours created with your recipes. The Best! Thanks
This looks great, I will be making this and also your prime rib recipe for our Christmas dinner. Thank you! Also the website looks fantastic.
This is a great recipe. All my boys love the Italian twist and do so enjoy. They even take it and use it as a sandwich spread and for some reason it is great on graham crackers! Thanks for another great recipe
This looks fabulous! I may substitute some bacon for the salami. This one is on my short list for the next potluck appetizer party.
Love your recipes and writing style. So far, I’m liking the new website.
(also, please enter me in the contest for that awesome knife!)
The new site update is amazing.
Thank you for the Italian Cheese log recipe. This will be a great appetizer to serve at our Christmas Dinner.
Most cheese logs that I buy lack a zip in flavor that your recipe has.
This is the first year that i am off for the Christmas holiday. Since I do all the cooking, the family will be over to enjoy the feast.
Dear Nagi, your new Web Site is like you, colourful, joyful tasteful. I like the pink and navy. Good job!
Many thanks for all your great recipes, love them all!
The site is fresh and awesome! Thank you for all the recipes.
Miss Navi, the new site looks good….it’s all about the photography and yours is excellent. Good job
the new website looks great!! Congratulations!!
WOW! Love the new format! Great work, Nagi!
The new website looks great!!! Congratulations!!
I like the new site design, but there are two things in this recipe that don’t work well for me: 1) the bulleted numbers for the recipe notes would be more readable if they were centered in the bullets. The other issue for me is the light gray print for the nutrition information. Light gray is really hard to read for old eyes. Congratulations on your new design!
The new website looks fantastic and I cannot wait to try out this recipe! I make more of your recipes than any other cookbook I own or websites that I look out. Thank you for always having such great recipes!
Forgot to add, I love the new website. Looking forward to browsing through every yummy recipe!
Can’t wait to try it
Looks very festive. A beautiful addition to a Christmas buffet.
It looks delicious! I’ll try it in my upcoming Christmas party.
Love the new layout! The links at the top to jump to the sections on the page are great.
I love your new site! So easy to use. I also LOVE your recipes. You make something complicated seem so much easier! Thank you!