How to Build a Dinner-Worthy Charcuterie Board
yields: 1 large 19x14 platter
How to build a dinner-worthy charcuterie board with ideas for what to put on a cheese and charcuterie board and tips and tricks for arranging a showpiece platter! Plus all the components of an Italian Salumi themed charcuterie board!
Ingredients
3-4 Cured or Dried meats (¼-1/2lb each)
- Featured: spicy peppered salami, thick cut cacciatore, Italian dry salami, and calabrese salami
2-3 Cheeses (4 ounces each)
- Featured: pecorino romano and mozarella balls
- Other options: parmesan, fresh ricotta, brie, gouda, or smoked cheddar
2-3 Vegetables
- Featured: ½ head roasted cauliflower & 1lb whole roasted tomatoes, roast up to 2 days in advance and chill until ready to serve
- Other options: roasted asparagus, roasted peppers, carrots, snap peas, sliced radishes, cherry tomatoes, or cucumbers
2-3 fruits, fresh or dried
- Featured: blackberries and dried figs
- Other options: Berries, grapes, apples, pears, or cantaloupe. Dried dates or apricots.
1-2 dips or tapenades
- Featured: homemade basil artichoke tapenade
- Other options: hummus, white bean dip, pistachio ricotta spread, whipped goat cheese
The Extras
- Featured: cornichons, honeycomb, salted marcona almonds, and toothpicks
- Other options: walnuts, dry roasted almonds, candied nuts, jam, spicy mustard, olives
INSTRUCTIONS
- Roast any veggies and prepare your dips or tapenades in advance.
- Prepare your platter for arranging and pull out all of your ingredients. Start by arranging any components you're serving in bowls around the platter.
- Next, start placing the larger components on the board, using the bowls as your starting point. Think about texture, shape, and color when deciding what goes where. As you start placing things, don't worry about filling in all the space just yet. Reserve some of each component to fill in space later, if needed. For texture, roll up, fold, or fan out the meat, crumble or slice the cheese. For shape, think about placing contrasting different shapes near each other and putting similarly shaped items further away from each other. Similarly, think about adding contrast to your board by mixing up the colors. Keep flavors that go nicely together near each other, and away from clashing components.
- Reserve smaller or more neutral items for last to fill in the empty space. Nuts and crackers work great for this. Once you’ve placed all your main components, sprinkle nuts or scoot in some crackers to fill in all the empty spaces on your board.
