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! 😂
Took a few minutes to have a look around and check things out. I’m definitely liking the new look, it has a CAS (clean and simple) look to it. What I really like though is all the categories you can choose from to find the recipes! The new break down makes it easier to find what you are looking for.
Christmas has came early for you & Dozer your Christmas recipe looks so festive I want to dig right in with a glass of bubbles we’ll done
Well done Nagi! 11/10 for the Italian Cheese Loaf & 12/10 for the new website. Great layout, easy to use & love the Dozer section. Merry Xmas
Hi Nagi
Do you ever do anything wrong? Love the new website (particularly the bigger font!) but I loved the old one too. Your recipes are just so trustworthy because they work but , as a previous person said, I’ll never lose weight addictively following your food blog 😉
What I really love is that you’re only “up the road” from me in Sydney so I can relate to the brands and details you mention in your notes – makes it feel like mates sharing recipes! Congratulations and Merry Xmas!! PS Dozer is just the ICING on the cake – stroke of brilliance!
This would be great anytime of the year . Going to put this one in the New Year eves Menu.
Many thanks Spence.
What a show stopping site , & the recipe looks amazingly festive Xmas has come early for you Nagi enjoy
İts a super recipe
It looks fine. However, some of the lines got blurred and it was hardly to scroll down, not sure why. The recipe looks delicious.
I love the layout and colors as well as the organization of the collection of recipes
Love it. Will make it for the holiday.
Love your new website design. Really liked the old format too. I always look forward to your recipes I especially like the pictures of how they all come together. And I always love to see what Dozer is up to and the access to your Mother’s recipes.
This Christmas appetiser looks so festive and doable. The new look is great!
This looks so delicious! What a great idea. Will be making it over the holidays. Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all!
Great new Format Nagi! I have already got your Maple glazed Ham on the list this year again, after a winning dish last year. I was in Japan several years ago and visited the sky tower. After that I wandered around the base shops and found a knife seller. The knives were a work of art, and to this day regret leaving without one ! Thank you for your recipes and wishing you a great festive season. I look forward to tasting this dish and might even try this weekend.
Yum yum!
This looks so delicious Nagi. Love the new website design too. Great work
Gunna give this a try on Xmas day, can’t wait
This is definitely going on my Christmas Eve menu. It looks divine. The new website is fantastic Nagi. Well done. It looks so fresh. I look forward to continuing to Base my weekly menus off your recipes.
Love your recipes Nagi, & the pictures are great, but I’m sorry, hands down, my absolute fav thing is Dozer’s picts! The water ones are tops for me. He’s so CUTE!
Great new website Nagi and this looks scrumptious!