Easy Fall Cheese & Charcuterie Board

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This easy entertaining fall cheese and charcuterie board is the perfect addition to any fall party, especially Thanksgiving!

Surprise, it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow! Not really, but you get the gist. That’s precisely why I’m sharing one of my favorite entertaining recipes with you today – a fancy a&# cheese and charcuterie board! Now, people ask me all the time why I bother making boards like this when I can’t eat half of the things on it (like the meat). My answer to them is really quite simple.

MORE CHEESE FOR ME. Jokes aside, there’s nothing I love more than preparing food for the people I care about. It just so happens that all of the people in this category are die-hard carnivores. So, even if I’m not going to be indulging in prosciutto, I know they’ll love it and that’s reason enough for me to want to add it to the plate.

Even though I love an nice cheeseboard, the was entirely my boyfriend’s idea. This particular day wasn’t just a regular one, it was the day he was going to meet my mother for the first time. So, knowing she has a penchant for fancy cheeses, cured meats and wine (like mother, like daughter), he suggested we make her a little board so she had something to enjoy when she got home from work.

I know, he’s the best. As we were unpacking the groceries and he was guzzling wine out of nerves, he suggested that we make the board beautiful enough for her and for the blog (#thatcontentlife). At that point, the rusty wheels in my brain started turning and, before you know it, I was cutting petals off the flowers he got me and was arranging pancetta and fig jam like a mad woman. After almost an hour of styling and photographing, my little brother got home and demolished half the tray. Luckily, I was able to snag a photo to send my mom so she saw the beauty it was before two hungry boys had their way with it.

She approved, by the way. Of both the tray and the boyfriend, which is the best we could have hoped for. Oh, and I haven’t had any cheese since because I might have eaten about 5 pounds in the form of soft camembert and raclette.

Quick and Easy Fall Cheese & Charcuterie Board

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!

Serves about 4 – 6.
Prep time: About 15 minutes
Total time: 15 – 20 minutes

Ingredients: 

  • 1 loaf crispy french bread, sliced into 1 – 2 inch slices
  • 8 ounces your favorite crackers (I love these buttery table crackers)
  • 8 ounces thinly sliced proscuitto
  • 8 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
  • 1 log of your favorite cured salami (we used this pepper crusted one from Boar’s Head) 
  • 4 – 6 ounces olives
  • 1/4 cup fig jam or your favorite fruit preserves, divided
  • 1 bunch grapes
  • Fresh berries (about 2 cups)
  • 6 ounces soft cheese (we used camembert)
  • 5 ounces strong profiled hard cheese (we used raclette)
  • 6 – 8 ounces mild cheese (we used this Cabot cheddar)
  • 2 – 4 tablespoons dijon mustard

Directions: 

  1. Arrange the cheese and meats around a large wooden cutting board or serving platter. I like having the cheeses on separate ends of the board and the meat filling in around it.
  2. Then add the berries, olives, grapes, crackers and bread around the cheese and the meat. Make sure to save some spots on the board for the jam and other condiements.
  3. Place the jam and the mustard where there are some empty spots. You can either put them in small ramekins or directly on the board like I did. There’s really no rhyme or reason to how I decorate, just stack the ingredients high and add some fresh blooms and greenery for contrast.

*Note, because it’s hard to determine the serving size, we can’t really figure out the nutritional information. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience.

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Comments

  1. Posted by Justin Faraday on
    Friday, November 17th, 2017
    Beautiful photos! The flower on the cheese is a nice touch. That platter wouldn't survive long at my house. Deeeeelish!
    • Posted by Claire on
      Monday, January 15th, 2018
      It barely lasted at mine!