Description
Turning your regular charcuterie board into a charcuterie WREATH is hands down the easiest way to make a showstopping Christmas appetizer centrepiece. Arrange a selection of your favourite cured meats, cheese, fruit, and jams in a wreath shape and you’re done.
You’ll need a small glass (I use a champagne flute) if you’d like to make salami roses, toothpicks, or small skewers, and if you have small Christmas cookie cutters, you can make cheese decorations for your board.
Ingredients
Garnish -
- Rosemary sprigs
- Nuts (I like pecans, almonds or pistachios)
Meat -
- Salami (a variety of sizes and textures - you need soft, larger salami to make roses)
- Prosciutto slices
- Christmas ham, sliced
Cheese (choose at least one from each category) -
- Something soft and creamy (brie, camembert, burrata, mozzarella, Port Salut, creamy feta)
- Something sharp and crumbly (parmesan, manchego, pecorino, blue cheese, mature cheddar, red Leicester)
- Something festive (Wensleydale with cranberries or apricots, goat's cheese rolled in cranberries)
- Something milder and buttery (gruyere, Havarti, Emmental or Gouda)
Fruit -
- Berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries or blackberries are great)
- Seedless grapes (use different colours)
- Cranberries or pomegranate seeds
- Dried fruit (apricots, mangoes, cranberries, figs or dates)
Jams and chutneys (choose a couple of your favorites - I like these) -
Crackers and bread -
- Baked pita chips
- Your favorite crackers (I like these sourdough discard crackers)
- Sliced French baguette, no-knead chili cheese focaccia or no-knead seeded bread
Instructions
- Make the salami roses. Layer large, soft pieces of salami all around the edge of your small glass, making sure that half the salami is inside the glass and half is outside, overlapping each piece slightly. For the rose to look best, make at least 2 to 3 layers of overlapping salami around the glass. Turn the glass over, then gently remove it from the salami. You should be left with a gorgeous, rose shape for your board. I like to make two or three roses for a board.
- Make Christmas shapes from cheese. For this, you want to choose cheese that is firm and buttery, not crumbly. I like to use parmesan, Gruyere or Havarti. Cut your chosen cheese into large thin slices, then use your mini cookie cutters to cut out different shapes.
- Outline your wreath. Use the rosemary sprigs to make a large circle on your board to help guide where you place your ingredients.
- Arrange your wreath. I like to start by placing the salami roses around the wreath, and then placing little bowls of jam and chutney around the edges. Thread a few pieces of salami onto toothpicks, then start layering your diced and sliced cheeses in little piles around the board. Try to have a good contrast of colors and ingredients, so don’t put all the cheese piles next to each other, spread them around evenly. Arrange the rest of your cured meat around the board.
- Fill in the gaps and finish. Scatter the berries and pomegranate seeds around the wreath, making sure to mix up the colors. Place the grapes on the board too, then fill in any gaps with dried fruit or nuts. Arrange the Christmas cheese shapes all over the board. Have a look, and move anything around if things look a little uneven – try to make sure you have a good combination of colors and textures. Use more rosemary to close the wreath by making a smaller circle in the middle of your wreath. You can either serve the crackers and bread in the middle of the wreath or just place them on the side.
Notes
PREP AHEAD: You can arrange the whole wreath, then just cover it with clingfilm and place it in the fridge overnight, so it’s a good way to get ahead during the busy Christmas season.
INGREDIENT NOTES: There are no hard and fast rules here, use whatever you like or what your guests like best! You could also add olives, pickles and sundried tomatoes.
LEFTOVERS? Use leftover cheese and meat in a lovely festive grilled cheese, throw them into salads or use the cheese to make leftover festive mac and cheese.
- Prep Time: 10
- Category: appetizers
- Method: no cook
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 100g