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! 😂
Congratulations Nagi, love the functionality of your new website and catalogue-style! The mouthwatering pixs of gorgeous dishes across the pages made me want to rush right out to try out the recipes. Not only that, it demands that I explore them to the fullest extent so that I can see what’s hidden in every nook and cranny. For a novice, I find your recipes simple to make,
easy to follow, how to’s with great diagrams & videos, tips, techniques and notes helpful. The site’s design clean and easy to navigate; it has everything from one pot recipes to meal prep, plus calorie counts for Weight Watchers, fantastic! There’s also Dozer and your infectious enthusiasm with your readers really inspired me. Thank you so very much, Nagi, keep up the good work! Bless you! Merry Christmas😊
I absolutely love the new look Nagi and Dozer and of course the Italian Cheese Log, which I will make for Chrissie. As always recipes look gorgeous as does website. 😘👌
Love the new site, great layout 🙂 looking forward to more tasty delicious recipes, you never disappoint!
Absolutely smashing just love your web site and have become very energetic in the kitchen, keep up the great work.
Loving the new website – very professional and super mobile friendly!
Yet another fabulous recipe to add to my collection. The new website looks fabulous too, always my go-to site for anything. If im searching I always think to myself Nagi is bound to have something amazing 🙂
How perfect that your new website coincided with us getting a much larger monitor for the desktop computer! You, Dozer and the recipe(s) are nearly life size, Yay! I am one who generally detests change but in this case it is very, very good. Colors are bright and beautiful, Dozer’s drooley face is right in my (not quite as) drooley face and you, dear generous Nagi, are so very beautifully happy. So I have to report an enthusiastic thumbs up to the new look. Happy Holidays to all you of the RecipeTin family with warm wishes for a happy happy 2019 from Missouri, USA.
Hi Nagi,
I love the new website, looks great and easy to navigate.
Thank you for the recipes you send out in your mails. I already made a couple of them and looking forward to make many more 😀
Loving the new look. Love the colors.
Love the functionality of your new website and catalogue-style, Nagi! The mouthwatering pixs of gorgeous dishes across the pages made me want to rush right out to try out the recipes. Not only that, it demands that I explore them to the fullest extent so that I can see what’s hidden in every nook and cranny. For a novice, I find your recipes simple to make,
easy to follow, how to’s with great diagrams & videos, tips, techniques and notes helpful. The site’s design clean and easy to navigate; it has everything from one pot recipes to meal prep, plus calorie counts for Weight Watchers, fantastic! There’s also Dozer and your infectious enthusiasm with your readers really inspired me. Thank you so very much, Nagi, keep up the good work! Bless you! 😊
OMG. This looks soooo good. I love all your recipes and the new website is fabulous, a recipe for any occasion.
Keep up the good work. Best wishes to you and Dozer for a festive Christmas.
Loving the new look. Makes all the recipes and the food even more appetizing.
I love your new website, it looks nice, fresh and crisp….just like your recipes really!! Great!!!
Hi Nagi, love the new website, we use your recipies at least twice a week, and that Dozer is a classic!
Love the new look of your site. Easy scrolling and love the pic of Dozer. Merry Christmas!
Wow! I know I already said I loved the new updated website but I just have to say that the more I look around in it the more excited I get! Great job, Nagi. Awesome!
Love the new site. You are an inspiration – I will get cooking & baking again. Have a lovely Christmas & New Year. Please keep the pictures of Dozer coming, he’s adorable.
Looking forward to cooking this for Christmas. Love the new bright clear website and also that Dozer is still featured.
I love the new site. I appreciate how I can view all of your recipes! I could scroll through that for days.
Nagi-regardless of the beautiful recipe,you are a gem!! I love your sheer enthusiasm for life.May you always have the same approach! Blessings for Christmas.XXXOOO