Small Plates and Dips · Card SP17
Cheese Board with Olives, Pretzels and Meat Sticks
An easygoing snack board built for grazing: cubes of mild and sharp white cheese, soft wedges of brie, buttery green olives, salty mini pretzels, roasted almonds and slim cured meat sticks. A couple of dips and sliced bread sit alongside. Nothing needs cooking, and it looks generous on the table in about twenty minutes.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 0 min
- Total
- 20 min
- Serves
- 8
- Level
- Easy
- Cuisine
- American
Method
Step 1: Take the cheeses out of the fridge 45 minutes before serving; cold cheese tastes muted and brie only turns soft and spreadable once it warms up.
Step 2: Cut the cheddar and Havarti into cubes while they are still cold, when they slice cleanly without crumbling. Cut the brie into wedges.
Step 3: Spoon the mustard and fig jam into small bowls and set them beside a large board. Arrange the cheeses first in three loose groups, since they are the largest items and anchor the layout.
Step 4: Fill the spaces between the cheeses with the olives and the meat sticks, fanning the sticks in a bundle so guests can grab one easily.
Step 5: Tuck the pretzels and almonds into every remaining gap so no wood shows. Set the sliced baguette on the side and serve with small forks or picks.
Kitchen note
Olives and pretzels go on last and closest to the edge because the olive brine softens pretzels on contact; keeping a cheese or a row of almonds between them keeps the pretzels crunchy.
Easy swap
Swap the meat sticks for thinly sliced salami folded into quarters.
Filed nearby
See the whole volume
