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 swapped the Capsicum for gherkins. Absolutely delicious!
This was a huge hit with family and friends on Boxing Day. I was asked where I purchased it! I don’t think they could believe I made something so wonderful and tasty. Thank you Nagi!
Made this awesome appetizer for Christmas lunch…it was a super hit!! Love u Nagi…u never dissapoint
I made this absolutely yummh log this year and it is so good! Balanced flavours and everyone loved it. Will be my go to appetizer from now on. Thank you Nagi!
Made this for an xmas party last night and it looked incredible and tasted even better! Had about 12 guests and with the other food, we only got through about half the log. So I join the other commenters suggesting halving the recipe unless there’s 20+ of you! Thanks Nagi
I made this last year it was a big hit. Just made it again for Christmas Day. Maybe it’s a bit salty but I am sure everybody will love it. I must remember to leave the salt out next time..thank you For your recipes Nagi and a Merry Christmas to you
Fantastic recipe, like all of your others! Easy to make, full of flavour. A real hit at the office pot luck! Thank you!
Merry Christmas to you Nagi, Dozer and your team.
Ridiculously simple to put together and the ‘taste testing’ (ahem…had to test it before serving on Christmas Eve, of course!) was extensive and enjoyed immensely by the chef and sous!! I made a half quantity and produced two glad-wrapped ’sausages’ instead of a big rectangular loaf. Will serve these up on nibbles platters at Christmas 🙂 Thank you Nagi and have a lovely Christmas after such a spectacular year of success and changes!
Forgot to say: I also deliberately omitted the salt after reading the comments…it is perfect without any added salt 😉 Would recommend mixing everything except salt and then tasting.
Love ! Love ! Love! Nagi you are my recipe savour! 😂
This recipe is amazing ! Thanks again for all your recipes! X
I made this for a get-together with some friends. I halved the recipe for 5 of us, and there were leftovers. Making it again for Christmas Day, it was really good! I added the salt, and I think as per some comments, I will either use less or omit completely. Really tasty!
This is absolutely beautiful. I have made it twice. Definitely recommend hot good quality salami. I did not add salt last time as I don’t believe it needs it with the olives.
Made this 2 days ago for an early Christmas party. Made it in mini loaf pans with enough left over to make a quarter loaf for us to test before I passed it to 30 people! This is delicious! And such an unusual cheese type log. Thank you! Making more for actual Christmas!!
Loved this and easy to make. Looks and tastes terrific. I added extra chilli flakes!
Fantastic!
This is a great recipe! My only ‚but‘ is the teaspoon of salt – makes it too salty for me. I left it out the 2nd time I made it, and it was perfect! Unfortunately I just made it again and put in the salt as I forgot to exclude it 🫣 Does anyone else find it too salty as per the recipe?
I will make this again this year for Thanksgiving. I made it last year and it was a big hit. I love it. It makes quite a bit so you can enjoy it for the whole week. Very tasty! Told all my friends at the bar this past weekend about it. It’s also easy to make. Thanks so much for this recipe it will be a staple in our home.
Hi Nagi, this really is one of those you’ll keep coming back for more. I made this for Christmas, now I am hoping there’s a Thanksgiving version for this too given how this is 20/10 score for us. Thank you.
Has anyone tried freezing the leftovers?
I find that freezing cream cheese causes it to crumble.
This was absolutely amazing!!! So tasty and different. Every time I make this everyone raves. I love the flavor of basil in this, so I chop up more basil and sprinkle it on the top (instead of the rosemary). It’s still green (and so looks Christmasy) and it’s yummy.
Absolutely success! Substituted the salami with artichokes. Thank you for the fabulous recipe.