“Cheesemas Tree” Cheese Board & Quick Pickles – Dispense with those little cheese and pineapple on sticks, ditch the cheese knife and get creative this Christmas and New Year with this fabulous and fun “Cheesemas Tree” Cheese Board and quick pickled veggies.

Sarson’s Pickle in 15 Minutes

Mediterranean Vinegar Blend

Today’s recipe post is a festive one, with just over a week left until Christmas, I am on festive cooking duty here at Lavender & Lovage. And, we hosted our first Christmas get-together last Saturday, with twenty close friends, family and neighbours coming along to start the party season in earnest. I cooked and baked all day, but the highlight of my special buffet table was undoubtedly today’s recipe for “Cheesemas Tree” and Quick Pickles. I made this an hour before everyone arrived, with glass of fizz in hand and some Christmas carols playing in the background to get me in the mood. This cheese board always gets “ooohs and ahhhhs” when people see it, and this year I added a trio of quick pickles to the “Cheesemas Tree” branches…..made with Sarson’s Pickle in 15 Minutes Mediterranean Vinegar Blend, my quick pickled red cabbage, carrots and potatoes added a wonderful piquancy to this fun cheese board.

I made the trio of pickles with an assortment of seasonal vegetables that was sent to me by Sarson’s for my ongoing recipe creation and collaboration with them. You may remember that last month in November I made a fabulous winter warmer, Winter Beef Braise and Quick Pickled Vegetables, and in October just as the weather was starting to turn cooler, we all enjoyed a bowl of fragrant Hot and Sour Soup with Quick Pickled Vegetables. Both of those recipes used the Sarson’s Pickle in 15 minutes Lightly Seasoned Vinegar Blend, but today’s recipe for “Cheesemas Tree” and Quick Pickles has the added flavours of garlic and oregano in them, as I tried out the Sarson’s Pickle in 15 Minutes Mediterranean Vinegar Blend for a change. The herb and garlic infused vinegar blend worked like a dream with the three vegetables I chose to pickle, and added a fabulous flavour to the pickles which ultimately married so well with the assorted cheeses.

The recipe for all three pickles is shared below, along with how to assemble the “Cheesemas Tree” cheese board. I’ve suggested Stilton cheese, Vintage Cheddar cheese and Red Leicester cheese, basically a mild red cheese, a sharp white cheese and a blue cheese, but you can use any cheeses that you have to hand or that you like. I like to scatter fresh herbs on and around the “Cheesemas Tree”, in this case it was what I had growing in my herb garden outside and on my kitchen window, which was basil and thyme. I LOVED the rich colours of the quick pickled carrots and red cabbage, they really added to the festive feel of this special cheese board. And the quick pickled potatoes were a HUGE hit with all my guests. They were such a big hit that I made a bigger bowl to serve on the side of the cheese board and to accompany the other food on the buffet table.

I hope today’s recipe idea for my “Cheesemas Tree” and Quick Pickles has inspired you to make one this Christmas and New Year. It’s a fun activity that you can even get the children involved in, and they will love helping you “build the tree”. The recipes are shared below on a printable recipe card, and PLEASE do let me know of you make your own “Cheesemas Tree” this year, and let me know if you made any other pickled vegetables to add to it. Please pop back soon for some more recipes, and have a lovely week. Karen

**You can purchase Sarson’s Pickle in 15 Minutes Lightly Seasoned Vinegar Blend at Morrisons and Tesco Extra stores nationwide and Sarson’s Pickle in 15 Minutes Mediterranean Vinegar Blend from Morrisons stores, RRP £1:69**

*Paid collaborative post with Sarson’s*

“Cheesemas Tree” Cheese Board with Quick Pickles

Print recipe

“Cheesemas Tree” Cheese Board with Quick Pickles

Serves	12+
Prep time	30 minutes
Dietary	Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Meal type	Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack, Starter
Misc	Gourmet, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Formal Party, Thanksgiving
Region	British
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

Dispense with those little cheese and pineapple on sticks and get creative this Christmas and New Year with this fabulous and fun “Cheesemas Tree” Cheese Board and quick pickled veggies.

Ingredients

Sarson's Pickle in 15 Mediterranean vinegar blend
1/4 small red cabbage (trimmed of core, and finely diced)
Garlic salt
2 large carrots (peeled and very finely diced)
Fresh basil leaves (cut or torn into small pieces + some left whole for garnish)
2 large potatoes (peeled, boiled and cut into small dice)
4 large spring onions (diced)
black pepper
200g vintage white Cheddar cheese (cut into small cubes)
200g Red Leicester cheese (cut into small cubes)
150g Stilton cheese, cut into small cubes (cut into small cubes)
3 to 4 pickled red chillies
Green olives
Gherkins
Sprigs of fresh Thyme leaves

Note

Dispense with those little cheese and pineapple on sticks and get creative this Christmas and New Year with this fabulous and fun “Cheesemas Tree” Cheese Board and quick pickled veggies.

Directions

Step 1	Make the quick pickles first: take 3 bowls and add the individually prepared vegetables in each bowl, red cabbage in one, carrots in another one and the potatoes in the last bowl.
Step 2	Add the garlic salt (to taste) to the red cabbage, the chopped basil leaves to the carrots and the diced spring onions and black pepper to the cooked potatoes. Pour the Sarson's Mediterranean Pickle in 15 seasoned vinegar blend over all three vegetables, to just cover them, and set aside for 15 minutes. Just before serving, drain the pickled veggies.
Step 3	Assemble the "cheesemas tree": Put a spring of basil leaves at the top of a large rectangular board and then arrange the cheese cubes in the shape of a tree, interspersing them with the drained pickled red cabbage, carrots and potatoes - see the photo - ending with a row of olives at the bottom and the red chillies on the last layer of cheese and potatoes.
Step 4	Arrange the sprigs of fresh basil and thyme in and around the cheese cubes and pickled veggies and then make the “trunk” of the tree with the gherkins.
Step 5	Serve with crackers and/or crusty bread. Can be made ahead of time and covered loosely with tinfoil and stored in a cool place until you need to serve it.