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! 😂
Pure genius Nagi. You should carry a sword, ’cause you’re nobility. This recipe will prevent my wife from running around like a headless chook organising antipasti for Xmas.
Love the new website overall!! Looks very professional. 🙂 I do feel the font size of the recipe and comments sections is a little large, especially for the narrow width of the column, but I love the colour scheme and the typeface choice!
More Dozer photos please!
Love the new quick link buttons 😀
Hi Nagi, love the new look – it is super simple to navigate. And the steps, they are so super easy peasy to follow and it turns the recipe to a edible cuisine !!!! (even for a novice like me !!:)
Love the site – it’s beautiful,colourful , informative and inspiring!
Pure genius Nagi. You should carry a sword, ’cause you’re nobility. This recipe is the answer to my wife running around like a headless chook organising antipasti.
Absolutely love the site – it’s colourful, informative and inspiring!
Looks yummy and perfect for the holidays
Love the new web site too
Can’t wait to try this recipe when I return home from a trip.
New site:
Plenty of white space, still getting used to the new font but I do like it.
Great photos. Like the extra pic of you on the recipe page and the grouping of numbered food prep photos.
Logo – it will grow on me
Also like the way nutrition info is presented.
Meet Dozer – great idea. I am not an animal person but I love to read about Dozer – usually the first thing I check out in the email and on the recipe page!
Not a fan of the green check marks – my attention is more focused on green and tend to skip what is written next t them.
Overall – great job!
Cool new site!!
Love the website – I can search by category when I know what I want to do and when I need inspo I can try my luck by date!!!~! Best of both worlds!
I love the new website! It makes the food the real hero with the images! Also, this recipe looks fantastic, I’m usually in charge of the cheese plates, and I’ll definitely be making this for Christmas!
I like the new design and the buttons at the top.
Absolutely love the new website so easy to use and nice large font for the visually impaired like myself (only when I misplace my specs)
will be sure to make the cheese log for christmas thanks for the recipes and a very merry xmas to you all
Love the new website your the only food blogger I follow and you haven’t let me down for whatever I’ve looked for. Love love Dozer
I love your blog and thrilled to see the website now! I wish you all the best. Your recipes are so easy and the videos make it look easier. Great job! Thank you.
I love your new website and the variety of your recipes.
Love your dog
I have not made this recipe but it looks good
Wow!! I have just spent a most enjoyable time searching through your new website. I am finding a lot of wonderful new features and I am sure as I keep browsing I will find even more. It’s all so exciting. Well Done!!
Really like the new design – the recipe is easier to read (better font) and you’ve used photos more effectively.
Fabulous website and easy to navigate. Love the new design!