Who loves a good board??? It’s a versatile spread that’s perfect for nibbling sports fans during Sunday football, but fancy enough for holiday entertaining, yet casual enough for Friday night Happy Hour. You can swing a well-played board any way! We made this board for our Italian family Sunday dinner last weekend. For the kids and adults, this board was loaded with layers of flavors and textures to please the whole Italian crowd.
How do you build a good Board??!! Start off with a solid base to display the goodies on. I usually grab a wood cutting board or old cookie sheet (for rustic charm). If you have a slate board that works too. Next select a few cheeses with varying shapes and textures. For this board I pulled a light Brie, Blue Cheese to fill the endive, a soft petite breakfast like “cream cheese” (perfect for crackers), and a mild goat cheese. I also layered in some cut Monterey Jack & sharp cheddar for the kids to nibble on.
Now that the cheese is picked it’s time to layer in all the flavors. We wanted the board to feel warm and inviting so we pulled in Chili Pistachios (spicy) + Pecans + Dried Tomatoes + Red Pears + Dried Apricots (sweet) + Fresh Blackberries + Fresh Gooseberries (sour) + Endive (crunchy) + Cucumber Slices + Cornichons (my kids call mini pickles) + Breadsticks + Sesame Rice Crackers + Prosciutto + Creminelli Barolo (Red Wine Infused) uncured Italian Salami (the salami was the star of the board!).
We hope this brings inspiration to your next gathering!! Just remember, you can’t go wrong with layering and playing with all sorts of flavors in a Charcuterie and Cheese Board!
