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! 😂
I absolutely love this recipe. So yummy and pretty too. I hope i win the knife to help me chop the salami 🙂
I really like the look and ease of navigating the new website.
Have a Merry Christmas and best wishes in the New Year.
PS
Thanks for all the great meal suggestions.
We have enjoyed many good meals thanks to you.
Hi Nagi
Love your new website. It is so well organized. The categories are great! It works well on my iPhone/IPad which I can’t say for some of the other websites. Love your new picture on “Hi, I’m Nagi”. You look adorable. Thank you for all that you do. Wishing you continued success in 2019.
Well, I thought the original website was excellent, but in typical Nagi fashion, you’ve gone from excellent to amazing. Congratulations and best wishes for continued success.
This appetizer looks (and I’m sure tastes) great! I saved it on pinterest and will try it later.
I love your philosophy of sharing only recipes you’ve tested and love 🙂
Always thought making a cheese log would be difficult. Can’t wait to try this recipe. Like the new layout, it will be easier to find vegetarian recipes for my daughter. Thank you for all the delicious recipes. Give Dozer a hug for me.
I’m extremely happy with the new site. Have you thought about cloning Dozer? Please!
This looks like a recipe I need to make for my upcoming Friends-mas brunch 😀
Really digging the new look. Looks cleaner, load faster on my laptop & mobile.
As always, looking forward to your continued success!
Hi ,
This is a nicely done website redo! When you mentioned that you’re updating, I thought, “why? It looks great!” Your recipes continue to make me salivate, and I’d love to try this Italian cheese loaf. This would be beautiful in a small springform pan shape as well.
I love the new website, especially the Categories section. When I need a quick meal or to plan something out, the categories make it easy to find something delicious.
very colourful and easy to follow. Love the recipe and that you are always giving us ideas to save money!
The new website is great…love the organization of the recipes and as always your photographs are yummy and enticing.
The recipe looks yummy. The new look of the website with all the great recipes looks fantastic. Great start of a new year. Happy new year and Keep going.
Nagi: Your website has been an inspiration. It has opened a whole new world to me with all the different types of recipes. Going to a family Christmas gathering this weekend and plan to make the festive Italian Cheese Log. They will all devour it. So far, I have found no glitches in the new web site, but do love all the pics and your detailed descriptions, hints. It’s like you’re in the room talking with me. I know whoever wins the knife will thoroughly enjoy it. sandy moses tyler tx
Your quote reads ‘Julie’ Child, instead of ‘Julia’. Love the new look with fabulous recipes. Congrats and Happy Christmas!
Because i’m Visual, I love the new website. Recipes are easy to find and that I can scan through the photos all in one place and be tempted to try the recipes. Good job!
New website is fantastic. Easy to read and diller with the greatest recipes. Also thank you for the cheese log. Just what I needed to complete my Christmas Menu!
I love the picture of your dog above. I really like your new website.
Loving this recipe as well as the new look! What is Dozer getting from Santa this year??
The new website is great. Thanks for all you do. This Italian Cheese Log looks amazing. Will make delicious gifts for a few of my friends. Give Dozer a kiss for me.