The Perfect Charcuterie Board
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Who can resist a salad brimming with pickled beets, candied pecans, and goat cheese? If you know me, you know I have a soft spot for beautiful food. This beet salad is not only delicious but visually stunning. The best part is that all the components are easy to prepare yourself, and you can make everything ahead of time, assembling the salad whenever you're ready to eat!
This salad offers a delightful balance of sweet, crunchy, and tangy flavours. The combination of sweet beets and nuts with goat cheese is perfectly complemented by the greens, creating a harmonious dish.
Charcuterie (shaar·koo·ter·ee) is essentially fancy cold cuts. It includes cured meats like salami, ham, kielbasa and prosciutto, as well as spreads such as patés, terrines, and chicken liver mousse. A classic charcuterie board features these protein staples alongside cheeses and delicious accompaniments including dried and fresh fruits and pickled vegetables, toasted nuts, briny olives, and an array of honeys, jams, jellies, chutneys, mustards, and more.
A stunning charcuterie board is both a statement piece and a time-saver, as it usually requires minimal to no cooking. It takes just a few minutes to assemble (really!), and you don't need to be a professional food stylist. Plus, you can prepare it in advance and store it in the fridge until right before serving.
Since your charcuterie board is meant to be an appetizer rather than a main course (unless you're serving it solo—we'll cover that later), you won't need as much meat per person as you would for an entrée.
Meats: Two to three slices, or roughly 2 to 3 ounces per person, should satisfy your guests. While per-pound prices might seem steep, many meats are best sliced wafer-thin, so a few ounces go a long way. For 8-10 people, you'll need 1 to 1 1/2 lbs of meat, and it's wise to choose at least one crowd-pleaser from each category.
Cheeses: Typically sliced a bit thicker, aim for 3 ounces of cheese per person or 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds for 8-10 people (about 3 medium-sized hunks).
Extras: The more, the merrier! My top complaint about restaurant meat and cheese platters is the lack of bread. Avoid this mistake by providing at least one cracker or piece of bread for every slice of meat. Extras like pickles, spreads, nuts, and fruits should be abundant, allowing guests to experiment with different flavor combinations in each bite. Serving 5-10 handfuls or small vessels of extras is reasonable.
If you plan to serve your board as the main dish, add a bit more of everything and consider including a salad and a heartier cured meat, like grilled kielbasa or grilled steak. Even dumplings, pierogies, shishito peppers or deviled eggs would be a compliment to the board.
There are nearly as many types of cured meats in the world as there are stars in the sky. Curing is an ancient technique for preserving protein, and diverse regions and cultures have developed their own unique styles of charcuterie, often using distinct breeds of livestock.
Select a meat from each category to create a delightful assortment—prosciutto, capicola, bresaola, soppressata, and mortadella are excellent choices. You can purchase equal amounts of each or adjust the proportions based on your preferences.
Welcome to Aggie’s Pickling recipes!
I'm a foodie focused on creating deliciously healthy recipes for you and your family. I'm a dreamer, tea lover, espresso drinker, deep thinker, mother, sister, creator and appreciator of food.
Food has always been a passion of mine. Weekends spent in the kitchen creating delicious dinners, music playing, with wine in hand are my favourite.
Here you'll discover my favourite recipes crafted using Aggie's products. These recipes are inspired by eclectic people and places I've had the privilege to experience.
Aggie’s Classy Caesar
Dilly Pickle Lobster Roll
The Perfect Charcuterie Board
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Cheese is usually sliced much thicker than meat, both by the store and by your guests, so you’ll need a little more than the meat. So pick one cheese from each category, but don’t sweat if you want fewer than four cheeses. Even if you only choose two, that just leaves more room for bread, grapes and other extras.
Cheese is meant to complement the meat, so aim for contrasting textures and flavors. Pairing a soft, mild cheese with soft, mild mortadella isn't ideal; instead, opt for a firm cheese. Salamis pair well with creamy cheeses, while prosciutto shines alongside burrata or brie.
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