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! 😂
Love the new web site. You are my go to for anything Nagi…your recipes are always clear and fun to read…Merry Christmas and thanks for your efforts !
Hi Nagi, new website has definitely better logo, anyway the layout seems to be very similar and I don´t see any big differences. The recipe design is clearer though. Anyway your recipes are great 😉 I hope, you will come also with e-book how to make video recipes 😉
New site looks great. Congratz Nagi. I’m looking forward to exploring it. Big hugs to Dozer.
Looove the new look, I’m a BIG fan of your recipes & this Christmas Log is a must make.
Adore Dozer, love him to bits, thanks for posting so many photos of him.
Love the easiness of this recipe, and it’s just in time for the busy Holiday Season. Love Dozer’s sparkly hat, too. Wish I could include a pic of Rainer (my White German Shepherd) in her Santa outfit.
Nagi your new website is as fabulous are you! Love it.
The site is nice: very clean and fast to load. Well done!
Recipe looks great, too. How did you know I’ve been Googling cheese log recipes this week?
Hey! I do like the new site. My only issue is that it’s slower to load for me here (Antarctica) than the other was, but I’m keen on the way the new layout looks!
~cheers
Wow, Yumy,it’s on my menu for sure, love cheese, got all the other stuff in pantry. Tha colour is perfect. And you know that we eat with our eyes. Color vs Dozer how fantastic! Enjoy your w/end.
I am so happy that you started a website. You are my favorite chef!!
Hi Nagi! Love your new website! Very exciting! The recipe looks awesome – will def make! Great pic of you. Great pics of Dozer :~)
Hi, Nagi! Love your website and recipes! Stumbled on your website about 6 months ago and have been loving all your recipes! Sending warm regards from Okinawa!
Love the new website! So much to explore and learn!
Hi Nagi,
The new website looks great and easy to navigate. I will definitely try this log on our family day. Never done any thing like this before but you are encouraging me to be daring. And I just want to wrap Dozer up and take him home
This is a great idea. I love the new site – looks so easy to navigate
It looks & sounds delicious. New website full of colorful, appealing pictures of recipes. I have used many of your recipes.
Love the new website. It’s great how you can go straight to the pics of Dozer at the top lol oh and the recipe. Can’t say enough wonderful things about this site. I tell all my friends
I love the new website! So much easier to navigate and find what I’m looking for. Looks slick too 😊 My favourite recipe resource thankyou!!
I love it! Great new design! Your recipes are fabulous!
I love the new website. It was much easier to scroll through the recipe. Thank you for the wonderful and scrumptious recipes. Most of the ingredients needed for your recipes are staples in most households.