RECIPE: Nat's Restaurant-Worthy Charcuterie Board
In my opinion, a charcuterie board has no rules. It’s fun to simply pick your favourite cheeses, nuts, olives, fruits and cured meats and display them nicely on a platter. Because it’s a dish you can customize based on your own preferences, I never include blue cheese in my selection because I don’t like it! What I do like is mixing different colours and textures of cheese to give my spread some variety.
The first step to building a meat and cheese masterpiece, is choosing what type of board you’re going to use. I like to serve my spread on a wood board (any cutting board or wood platter will do) rather than a regular platter, so that people can cut the cheeses directly on the board without everything slipping off.
As for the delish items I include on my charcuterie board, I’ve listed them all below!
INGREDIENTS
CHEESES
A soft cheese - Brie, Camembert or another soft, yummy cheese.
A hard cheese - like Cheddar (the older the better)
A coloured cheese - Have fun with this one! Go to a cheese shop and ask to try different types of cheese. There is a Guinness Cheddar, which is so good, and its marbled brown look really adds to the platter.
CURED MEATS
A hard salami - like a small link of salami cut into think rounds.
A thinly sliced Genoa Salami
A spicy salami
Prosciutto
OLIVES
Whichever kind you like best, but try to get different colours. I like red ones!
FRUIT
Slices of Bosc pears and apples are the perfect option for those who don’t want to eat bread with their cheese.
NUTS
Scatter any type of nut around the board.
BREAD
Add your go-to cracker and/or thinly slice a crispy baguette!
EXTRAS
Spruce up your platter even more by adding artichokes, hot peppers, jelly or jams (anything from the olive cart) in small dishes or ramekins.
That’s it! All you have to do is pick out your favourite snacks and assemble them on the board any way you wish. Have fun, use cute cheese knives and load up that board!! And don’t forget to tag us @catandnat on social media or pin your board and tag us so we can see your creations!!!
xx Nat