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! 😂
Wow! What a makeover! Brilliant! Three links at top perfect for easy access – even to Dozer. You recipes brighten my day and menu!
This is just in time for my holiday parties. Looks as yummy as all your recipes! I LOVE the new website. Easy to navigate, find recipes, bright & colorful pictures, great labels, and on and on…… Thanks for making it easy to use!!
Thanks for another recipe that I will use, the new look website is great.
I’m a huge fan already! But so impressed with the new website! Particularly the three links at the top of the recipe to video, recipe and beloved dozer! I make so many rte recipes and look forward to all your emails Nagi! I have a folder on my phone to keep them all in! You brighten my day and menu!
Love the new website, colourful and easy to use.
Love the new website, but especially the story on Dozer
Love the new website, not that I had a problem with the last one but along woth easy to find recipes I can also click on Dozer and get my daily fix there as well. Love all your recipes Nagi, you are such a clever woman and so amazing for sharing them all with us 💕
Thank you for your amazing new website. I can’t remember the last time i opened a cookbook, even though i still love my collection. Planning my daily meals now will be even easier, with the new format and fantastic photos. I actually get the family to choose meals from your site and it is a great way to have everyone involved. Your meatloaf is one of our most picked recipes, but now with the pictures larger and so yummy, it will make it even harder to choose. Happy Christmas to you and your family, and thanks for the new website. Well done.😊🎅🌲
It all looks terrific, well-done on the new look.
Terrific new website, luv your recipes
Well, seeing as how the new website is navy blue (my favourite color), what’s not to love? 😊🍦
Hi Nagi,
Your Italian Cheese Log really does look like Christmas on a plate! I can’t wait to make this for our xmas street party.
Love the new look website – it’s neat and easy to navigate. Keep up the great work.
Merry Christmas to you and of course to Dozer too.
Wow, the new website looks fantastic. So much easier to find a recipe or just waste hours drooling over your delicious food. Thank you Nagi for taking the stress out of meal decisions.
I was on my iPhone and checked out today’s recipe new website is way easier to see an maneuver around and bonus picture of Dozer was so clear. Goodluck
The timing is perfect for this appetiser…getting together with several Italian neighbours on the weekend and will make and bring this for sure. I’ve always loved your website but the ease of getting through categories especially Christmas now is a breeze. Great job Nagi!!
The website design look fabulous! i love the color scheme! Have a wonderful holiday season!
Nagi I love your new website design and the easy way to navigate. The colors are crisp and clean and the logo looks fantastic. I really like how you have a check box to filter out for only quick and easy recipes. That is so cool
Love the new pictures and the lay out of the pages is much better too.
The new website looks great, it’s much easier to flow through and print! This recipe looks so christmassy! I have a hoard of people coming so can’t wait to try this one.
Such a delicious sounding recipe. Definitely going to give it try.