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! 😂
Yum, this is reminiscent of a cheese ball created by an old work colleague who called it “junk cheeseball” because it had such a variety of ingredients. New site looks great!
The new website is beautiful! It’s very easy to find recipes within the categories. Just one constructive comment – please add Dozer to the main menu system, probably following the ‘About Me’ selection. Once into your site, I had to do a search for Dozer to find his page. You’re right – we all love him as much as we love your wonderful recipes!
Nagi
I love your new website. It is so bright and colorful plus I love that Dozer has his own place now. You two always brighten my days. I’ve tried several of your recipes and they have always been very easy but utterly delicious. Thank you so much for your awesome recipes. I would love to be entered in your knife contest. Thank you. I hope you and your family have a Very Merry Christmas 🎄 and a Happy New Year. 🎊. Hope Dozer gets all the dots and bones he dreams of.
I really like the organization and searchability of your new website, and especially….(wait for it!)…that “Meet Dozer” got top billing above “Top Posts” Way to go, Nagi!!
Oh my! This looks so good, can’t wait to make it for Christmas! Nice site update, love all your recipes and love seeing Dozer in your posts!
The new site looks fantastic! Totally digging the blue and orange colour scheme. Really love that Dozer gets his own little section now 😀
Nicely done Nagi. Better UI and bigger font size! So much easier to read now. 🙂
Love the new website design, Nagi!
Love the new design 🙂 Easy to navigate in. Mia from Denmark
Cheese and crackers? You know how to do the holidays right 😀 The new website is so pretty to look at, congrats! I love browsing through the recipes & being able to tab for quick & easy recipes 😉
Great new look…..and Dozer looks content!
Hello from British Columbia, Canada…….the Cheese Loaf looks so awesome……can’t wait to try it………love your new site, yummy recipes, and of course, Dozer !! Merry Christmas !
Nagi, I love the new website! Very easy to navigate. I especially like the 3 promo posts across top. Plus I like the new logo and of course Dozer’s page! Nice work as always. P.S. Love the cheese log recipe.
Hi
I’m loving the new website, keep sending us fantastic recipes.
The new site looks great. I really like your recipes so I’ll be visiting often.
Love your new look of your site☺
Always look forward to receiving your recipes and checking out suggestions on Pinterest. Your new website is great – everything is much easier to find – will definitely go straight there now for menu planning as you offer such a variety of great recipes to suit all tastes. I’ve received many compliments on your dishes from everyone here in the UK. I’m sure you can only go from strength to strength!! Best wishes. Dawn
Navigation on the new site is great!
Ooooh! This looks delicious & festive. I was just trying to think of something unique to bring for an office Xmas party. Nagi to the rescue!
the new site loos fabulous & is very easy to navigate. Cheers!
*looks* fabulous. oops!
Hi Nagi and Dozer!
The new site looks great. So well thought out. This recipe looks amazing and will definitely be served at our home this year!