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! 😂
This is amazing! It was huge hit at a family gathering. I made it with a 3 cheese blend of Italian cheeses, no salami! Definitely making this again!
Outstanding. Made this for Xmas lunch for family. All finished before lunch. Everyone said how nice it was and couldn’t believe that I made it. Will be a Xmas staple from now on.
Made this a couple of days before Christmas, added roasted capsicum and olives, and used the capsicum with the tomatoes on the top. The flavours blended beautifully and was very popular. Guests kept coming back for more, will be making this again.
I made this dip and it is absolutely delicious and will be a go-to dip. Just do not add any salt to this and the dip will taste perfect. The saltiness from the salami and green olives and crackers will be more than enough. If you add the salt, I think it will taste salty. This is a must make party recipe IMHO. It is addicting!
I made this last night for a get together tomorrow. I am trying very hard to resist having another test taste!! It is delicious. So handy at this time of year to be able to make ahead. Great flavours and lovely texture. Another winner Nagi.
I made this for a holiday party and it was yummy! It’s, obviously, a very rich dish. You don’t tend to eat a ton of it. If I make it again, I’ll definitely halve the recipe. As written, it would be at home for a party of 10+.
I was wondering if a drizzle of balsamic glaze would add a nice flavour
Hi, what size is the loaf tin ?
Just made this! Can not wait to serve this at a family holiday party! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Hi Nagi,
Just wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe for the Christmas Log. I made it tonight to serve my family tomorrow for our tree trimming get-together.It’s so good. Thanks again and Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Made this it was delicious family loved it used all ingredients listed added a little sweet gherkin chopped also will make again and experiment with other ingredients thanks Nagi
Can this be frozen
The roasted red peppers – is that a 9 oz jar (then drain)? or 9 ounces AFTER draining? Big difference! Nine ounces after draining used an entire 12 oz. jar, and it just looks like too much. Thoughts?
I made thissssssssss! I just put it in the fridge after sampling it excessively. I would suggest to add all of the ingredients and add the salt afterwards as mine came out a tiny bit salty. Awesome recipe! Can’t wait to serve it tonight!
Yes mine is touch too salty too .Will get bland crackers to balance it out a bit me thinks.
Hi Nagi
I want to make this for Xmas, but I can’t eat uncooked meat or fish (ie. salami or ham etc) because of cancer.
I could replace it with cooked Chorizo (chopped), but do I add the chorizo oil to the cheese mixture as well ?
I bought fresh peppers to grill myself and skin – do you think they will work as well as the marinated ones? Could I use fresh herbs that I have growing in my garden instead of dried?
Hi it says in the notes section that you can sub ingredients. Fresh herbs would be delicious I bet!
Awesome recipe, everyone raved 👌🏼 Will definitely make again and again 😉
This has become my signature dip to take to family events. I’ll be making this for the NFL final in Feb. Thank you
I made this cheese loaf twice this festive season and it was hugely popular on both occassions. Easy, delicious and can be made ahead. What more could we ask for from Nagi? Thanks for sharing it with us.
CAN I freeze it ?
I haven’t tried that myself Sarah but a few readers have commented that they have frozen it successfully (I would freeze without the topping.) N x