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 design! Super clean but still fun!
Yum! Love the new site
Interesting and easily interactive, I like it
New website looks nice, I think I will try this appetizer at Christmas. Looks tasty!
Dozer is beautiful as always!
Merry Christmas!
Never had a problem with your old website bit this was really is new and improved. Easy to find and nicely categorized,
Another great recipe to try. However, I seem to watch the wonderful videos more than I try to cook them, but I’m working on it. Great new website by the way and much easier to navigate.
Love the new website! Easy to follow instructions and not over crowded ! Can’t wait to try out some
Of these recipes !
Hi Nagi, Congratulations to the new website! It looks fabulous! The font and colors used are a fun way to look around the site, I like that it has borders around the recipe, Certainly looks grand and awesomely neat and easy to browse. Thanks for making this effort! Cant wait to try festive log recipe! i encountered glotch when submitting comment. it says its dullicate.
Love your new website. Whenever I’m looking for inspiration , whether it be for a dinner party or new idea for a family meal, I always look up Nagi ‘s blog. I’m never disappointed.
Definitely a super easy navigation on the new site and I love the breadcrumbs at the top! I can find any recipe in a flash!!! So exciting!
Hey Nagi,
The new website looks amazing. So fresh and modern. Thank you for a great year of amazing recipes. Your recipes are always reliable and so easy to make. I’ve said this before but you’ve made me fall in love with cooking again.
Thank you for all your hard work. and MERRY CHRISTMAS 🙂
Looks like a tasty chees appetizer option; can’t wait to try it.
Like the new design but it took me a minute to find the print button.
I really like the new website. It looks great, easy to navigate, and of course all the great recipes with photos. This recipe came just in time for my workplace potluck. Thank you, and Happy Holidays!
My family loves a charcuterie board, but I’m thinking I’ll surprise them with this Italian cheese loaf. Thanks!
Where can I buy “sin dried tomatoes”? And which sin were they involved in😂? Sorry, I spotted the typo and couldn’t resist. What a great thing to serve at holiday parties! The new website is vibrant.
😂😂😂 Well, they are SINfully delicious and they end up on my HIPS!!
The new format looks great! Photos really standout. Always enjoy reading your copy.
Beautiful photos. I plan to bring this to a party on Saturday evening. I appreciate how you write the descriptions and instructions in such a direct, clear style. Your joy and generosity bounces off your pages! Thank you
New website looks great! Love how I can click at the top to go right to the recipe when I’m looking up an older one. Good work, lady.
Love the new website! So easy to read and find the recipe. Beautiful photos.
I will make this appetizer for my holiday party! Yum!
Love the new website! It is easy to use and looks very modern 🙂