Make a Valentine's Day charcuterie board in just 25 minutes that's filled with salami, prosciutto, a heart shaped cheese ball, and lots of delicious fruit. This red and pink themed snack platter is perfect to celebrate the holiday of love.
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Need to whip up a beautiful yet easy-to-make Valentine's Day charcuterie board? This recipe is for you!
The board's red, pink, and white theme works well for a Valentine's Day date night, a Galentine's Day party, or even for sharing with your kids. Whoever you want to share this board with will feel the love!
What's unique about this Valentine's Day board is that it's filled with meats, including prosciutto and salami roses. The center of the board has a fig and goat cheese dip shaped like a heart and topped with dried cranberries. Plus, I love finishing the board with some fresh flowers and greenery.
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What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- How to make a heart shaped cheese ball.
- My technique for rolling salami roses.
- Tips for styling and assembling a Valentine's cheese board.
Want to learn more about charcuterie boards? Grab my go-to cheese board shopping list with over 100 food ideas to help you build your next grazing platter.
Ingredients You Need
All of the ingredients on the charcuterie platter are themed around Valentine's Day. You'll find lots of red, pink, and white ingredients. However, if you don't like or are allergic to any of the ingredients below, it's easy to substitute ingredients.
- Fig preserves or marmalade: This ingredient will be mixed into the goat cheese to make a delicious tasting dip for the Valentine's Day board.
- Pecans: This ingredient is also included in the goat cheese dip. You could substitute pecans for walnuts if needed.
- Goat cheese: Be sure to allow the goat cheese to soften to room temperature before making the dip.
- Dried cranberries: The dried cranberries help decorate the heart shaped cheese dip. You could also use dried cherries.
- Prosciutto: No charcuterie board is complete without prosciutto. However, if you can't find this ingredient, you can use another type of salami or capocollo.
- Sweet Gherkin pickles: Every charcuterie board needs a salty/briny item. The pickles provide this flavor as well as a great palate cleanser.
- Roasted pistachios: Pick up a bag of salted, roasted pistachios. I like the ones that still have the shells on for a pretty presentation.
- Assorted crackers: Feel free to use your preferred brand of crackers.
- Radishes: I like adding raw vegetables to the board. They pair nicely with a bite of cheese and meat.
- Mozzarella cheese: Any white colored cheese will work for this board. You can also opt for a white cheddar, gouda, or Swiss.
- Strawberries/Raspberries: Be sure to wash and dry the berries before adding them to the board.
- Spicy Italian dry salami: It's important to purchase thinly sliced salami to make salami roses.
- Chocolate covered pretzels: Be sure to purchase white chocolate covered pretzels to stick with the color theme of the board. You can also find yogurt covered pretzels. These heart shaped pretzels were from Walmart.
How To Make This Recipe
The hardest part of making a cheese board is styling and assembling it. Here's a step-by-step photo guide for how to build a Valentine's Day charcuterie board.
1. First, start by making the goat cheese dip. Add fig marmalade, chopped pecans, and goat cheese to a mixing bowl. Mix together with a silicone spatula until fully combined.
2. Next, it's time to shape this dip into a heart. Think of this as a Valentine's Day cheese ball. Transfer the goat cheese mixture to a piece of parchment paper. Shape the dip into a heart using a silicone spatula. You can also wear food-safe gloves and shape with your hands.
3. Top the heart with dried cranberries.
4. Transfer the parchment paper with the heart shaped goat cheese onto the middle of a serving platter. If your parchment paper is messy, use a paper towel to clean it up before transferring it to the serving platter.
5. Now it's time to begin building up the board. Start by layering pieces of prosciutto next to each side of the heart.
6. Add sweet Gherkin pickles and pistachios to small serving bowls. I like using these metal condiment cups and small glass bowls. This helps to ensure no juices leak onto the board and make other items soggy. Then, place the bowls around the serving platter.
7. Next, pile crackers around the outer edges of the platter.
8. Place the sliced radishes next to each side of the prosciutto.
9. Make two piles of mozzarella cheese cubes on opposite ends of the platter.
10. Pile strawberries and raspberries in the remaining open space.
11. Make 4 -6 salami roses by overlapping three pieces of salami on top of each other.
12. Fold the row of salami.
13. Then, roll the salami until it resembles a small rose.
14. Optionally, secure the bottom with a toothpick.
15. Fill in any remaining spaces with the salami roses and chocolate covered pretzels.
16. Optionally, garnish with fresh flowers or greenery. Serve once the cheese has come to room temperature.
Expert Tips
- Try pairing the board with sparkling Lambrusco sangria or red wine sangria.
- Use a board or platter that is around 14 inches (35 cm) x 8 inches (20 cm). Don't use a much larger platter; otherwise, you will not be able to achieve this full and beautiful look.
- The flavor and texture of cheeses are best at room temperature. Take the cheese board out about 15 - 30 minutes before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! The great thing about the modern-day charcuterie board is that you can add (almost) any ingredient that you like. For a more dessert-based board, add more chocolate elements like chocolate covered strawberries, Hershey Kisses, or other chocolate covered candies.
Incorporate these ingredients into the current board layout, or add them to a small serving bowl and place them around the serving platter.
Yes, you can assemble this board ahead of time. However, wait until the last minute to add the crackers and chocolate covered pretzels.
All the other items can be assembled up to 24 hours before you serve the food. Wrap the entire cheese board in plastic wrap before placing it in the refrigerator to store.
There are many ways to include heart shaped food items in a Valentine's Day snack board:
- Make a heart shaped cheese ball.
- Buy heart shaped chocolate covered pretzels.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut cheese into heart shapes.
More Charcuterie Recipes
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Valentine's Day Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- serving platter
- mini serving bowls
- toothpicks
- flowers for garnish (optional)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup fig preserves or marmalade
- ¼ cup pecans finely pulsed in a food processor
- 8 ounces goat cheese softened to room temperature
- 2.5 ounces dried cranberries
- 3 ounces prosciutto
- 4 ounces sweet Gherkin pickles
- 2 ounces roasted pistachios
- 4 ounces assorted crackers
- 2.5 ounces radishes thinly sliced
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese cubed
- 8 ounces strawberries
- 6 ounces raspberries
- 2.5 ounces spicy Italian dry salami
- 2.5 ounces chocolate covered pretzels
Instructions
- Add fig marmalade, chopped pecans, and goat cheese to a mixing bowl. Mix together with a silicone spatula until fully combined. Transfer the goat cheese mixture to a piece of parchment paper. Shape into a heart using a silicone spatula. Top the heart shaped goat cheese with dried cranberries.
- Transfer the parchment paper with the heart shaped goat cheese onto the middle of a serving platter. Lay pieces of prosciutto next to each side of the heart.
- Add sweet Gherkin pickles and pistachios to small serving bowls. Place them around the serving platter.
- Pile crackers around the outer edges of the platter.
- Place the sliced radishes next to each side of the prosciutto.
- Make two piles of mozzarella cheese cubes on opposite ends of the platter. Pile strawberries and raspberries in the remaining open space.
- Make 4 -6 salami roses by overlapping three pieces of salami on top of each other. Fold the row of salami then roll the salami until it resembles a small rose. Optionally, secure the bottom with a toothpick.
- Fill in any remaining spaces with the salami roses and chocolate covered pretzels. Optionally, garnish with fresh flowers or greenery. Serve once the cheese has come to room temperature.
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