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! 😂
New website is looking sharp, love it! Cant wait to try this cheese log.. many of my favorite recipes have come from recipetineats so im sure itll be great 🙂 and merry xmas nagi! Cheers, brynn
Shoot, sorry to comment twice within 2 minutes but I thought you should know that the new comment area says ‘required fields’ are marked with an asterisk, and they’re all marked. However on my last comment I didn’t leave a website (don’t have one!) and it posted just fine. Maybe the website input area shouldn’t have the asterisk since it doesn’t seem to be required? 🙂
Love the website! Very user friendly. I appreciate the nutrition facts. Dozer is quite the ham!
Wow, the new layout looks great! Do you think this recipe could be classified as pimiento cheese?
Also: I made your classic american chili for my boyfriend and myself a couple days ago, and he said it was the best chili he’d ever had!! –This is high praise for him, he LOVES chili. (I give you all the credit, I seriously can barely cook!)
Your recipes have never steered me wrong, but my favourite thing about your blog has to be the Dozer pics at the end of each post. Even when I shouldn’t be looking for supper ideas (leftover night here, send help!) I visit every single post to see what he’s up to!
Nagi, I’m a huge fan and love your recipes and especially how you write about food and life. But I am not a fan of the new website design. The photos and text are too large and it means I have to scroll down and up to find things. I like a cleaner, tighter, if you will, website, where I can click on different things and see lots of things at one glance.
Love the new website!
Hi Nagi,
We love your website, and cook at least twice a week from your recipies. We love Dozer too. Thank you for such a wonderful resource.
Hi Naji…have printed this recipe off along with some of your other party food recipes. We are gaving a large gathering for Boxing day and some of your dishes will certainly be on the menu. I love your easy choc fudge cake and that will be desert for an early Xmas dinner with some members of the family. I have made so many of your recipes for my family and they love them….just l8ve the good old sauce recipe fir stir fry as well…thank you … oh and the new website is fantastic.
New website it really accessible and encourages browsing. Thanks!
Loving the new color scheme and layout, and Dozer is adorable!
Super idee!Sieht sehr lecker aus
Nagi, your recipes are awesome. I just want to run to the kitchen and start cooking! And, by the way, I’ve always enjoyed your website but I really like the changes you’ve made. You’ve got some pretty exciting stuff there, Nagi! Keep up the great work. We love it!
I can’t wait to try the cheese log.
Love theook of the new site and can’t wait to try the log recipe.
Omg Nagi, this looks really delicious and I will definitely make this for Christmas Eve Dinner. Thanks for sharing these amazing recipes. I’ve done a couple of them and always got “wows” from my family. Merry Christmas
Love you nagi & the new site is amaze balls. Gorgeous photos as always but even nicer to search (long time recipe users here!) have a wonderful Xmas – we’re going to Japan and can’t wait!!!! You & your mum have constantly tempted us to visit! Xx
Love the look of the new site and can’t wait to try out that log recipe.
Your new look is fantastic bright and easy to see. Your recipes never fail. Keep them coming please.
Loving the new blog, so easy to read and great colours.
Your new website looks as lovely as the Italian cheese loaf! Can’t wait to make it for my family on Christmas Eve❣️