How to make a killer cheeseboard

Cheese makes things better. It’s a well known fact. And a BOARD of cheeses is the perfect, practically no-fuss, way to liven up any party. Bonus: you can quickly throw them together and they still look great.

The best thing about them is their customisability and that everyone can find something on there that they are happy to eat. Even those with the most extreme dietary requirements can be catered for – use gluten free crackers for a coeliac guest, up the amount of nuts, fruits and vegetables for any vegan/vego guests and include dairy-free dips for any lactose intolerant guests. The possibilities are as endless as my love for cheese….

We were very impressed with ourselves after pulling this together for a last minute dinner party on Friday night. The secret is lots of different colours. Here’s what we did:

1. Find a board. If you don’t have a dedicated cheese board (Wheel&Barrow have some really nice marbley ones at the moment) a cutting board or large plate would do perfectly.

2. Place your selected cheeses randomly around said board. It’s good to have a few different types of cheeses to suit everyone. In this case we had a crumbly cheddar (everyone loves cheddar), a camembert and a creamy blue.

3. Include some dips. You can never go wrong with a pesto and a hummus. The pesto also adds some more colour to the plate.

4. Arrange the crackers. We used gluten free brown rice crackers because they are delicious but also because we had a coeliac guest. To mix it up for the non-coeliac guests, we added some breadsticks. For a more substantial meal, some warmed Turkish bread would be a perfect addition.

5. Add some olives and semi-dried tomatoes for extra colour and deliciousness.

6. Place a few different cured meats around the board. We used salami and ham, but prosciutto and some cabana would be fab if you want to be extra fancy. If you have vegetarian guests, put the meats onto a separate plate.

7. Finish off by filling in the gaps with some fruits, nuts and vegetables. We used figs, strawberries, pepitas and almonds but you could experiment by adding carrots, other berries, apples, walnuts, etc. Add some herbs like rosemary and thyme to fancy it up a bit and you’ve got yourself one heck of a cheeseboard.

Always impressive and the perfect accompaniment for a wine party. Just try not to eat all of the ingredients before you put them on the plate….