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! 😂
All my favourite things in one recipe but…my favourite is sin dried tomatoes!!! 🤶🏼 Love your website and recipes Nagi!
First love your new site, but at the top is a shadow of maybe the old headers. Says home, etc. very faint under the new bold headers. Love this recipe and going to try it for our Dec 23 get together for family and they may be like your family which is not a bad thing. Dozer as always is so cute.
This looks delicious !!
All your recipes appear mouth watering to me.
Good work.
I have been a huge fan of your website form many years and have tried many of your recipes. One of the best on the web! Love the new design and glad I can still link up to your mom’s site. 🙂
I love the new website! It’s very well laid out and organized, well done!
I love this website, I made already about a dozen of your recipes, the meals have been wonderful. I will be making for the holidays this yummy looking appetizer.
Loving the website and the addition of a little more colour! Your recipes are amazing I recently came across you and have made over 10 recipes now – all so so delicious thank you Nagi and keep them coming 😊
Congrats on the new site! I love the design, chick and classi!! Wonderful job!
Hi Nagi, the new website looks great. Good job 🙂
I loved your old website, my family loved all my new creations and was always asked, “is this Nagi?”. Your new site has taken it to the next level. Even easier to navigate, and finding your mum’s site too. Awesome!
Haven’t tried this yet, but really like the new recipe format. Have tried many of your recipes, and enjoyed almost every one. I also like the way you have organized the categories on your new site
I cant wait to try this. I’m adding to my Christmas Eve Menu. Happy Holidays to you and your family.
*New Site looks great*
I have used quite a few of your recipes and they have all been wonderful. The Italian Cheese Log sounds like a yummy winner too!
What makes this website stand out from the crowd? 3 things.
Superb quality of the food photography, the wide variety of recipes with something for every occasion and according to my rescue dog Weetabix, the fact that Dozer has his own webpage.
Love the new look, simple and clear to navigate. No excuse now not to cook more of Nagi´s great recipes!
Love the new logo, like a basket filled with great recipes. The colours, vibrancy and layout are fantastic – draws me in completely. Well done, Nagi. Love Dozer’s ‘button’!
Love the new website! I’ve tried many of your recipes.
Love the recipe organization on the new website! So easy now!
I only found your site last week, but I love it. I’m already downloading recipes and getting ready to try them. Dozer is adorable and I love his updates too. I look forward to finding new gems on this website. Thank you.
New site looks amazing!
Been looking for a good appetizer that will suit a lot of different people. Thanks for all your Thanksgiving tips too!