Assorted Cured Meats Wreath

Every festive gathering needs to have a platter of deli-style meats to accompany the crackers, bread, pickles, and cheeses. This impressive Assorted Cured Meats Wreath is just what you need for your holiday buffet table. Prepared with pepperoni, salami, kielbasa, and more, this wreath is for all of the carnivores in your life!

In our home, we love a good charcuterie board. In fact, I will prepare a charcuterie board a few times each month for dinner, which has some of the things from this Assorted Cured Meats Wreath. It’s piled up with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, and tomatoes. Next, I add a few kinds of cheese, like sharp cheddar, spicy peppery cheese, and something crumbly like goat cheese too. We love carbs, so I’ll add in a few varieties of crackers and lots of thinly sliced baguettes.

But, my favourite part is always the meat. John.e is a vegetarian, so I always make sure that we have those vegan deli slices on hand for him, but McKenna and I get to enjoy the real meats all to ourselves. Most often, I’ll use an assortment of thinly sliced Italian meats like prosciutto, salami, and coppa di parma. It’s usually those three because they are oftentimes found packaged together at the grocery store!

So, when I was thinking about the various wreaths I wanted to put together for this series, this Assorted Cured Meats Wreath was one of the first. I thought about all of the components of a charcuterie board, and the meat portion is my personal favourite, so I just went with it!

My Assorted Cured Meats Wreath is the tenth in my 12 Edible Wreaths of Christmas Series. If you have not done so already, please join me for 12 consecutive days – yes, even Saturday and Sunday! – while I share one new edible wreath with you every day. If you cannot wait until tomorrow, you can always check out a series from Christmases past. Find the links for each series below. So, let’s just get into it!

EDIBLE WREATHS ARE THE CHARCUTERIE OF CHRISTMAS!

Charcuterie boards are everywhere these days, and it seems that there’s a theme for just about everything. With that in mind, why not create wreath-shaped charcuterie boards for Christmastime!? I started out with a few varieties in mind, but the more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea and before long, I had a list of twenty themes. Narrowing it down to 12 was hard, but I managed to put some of the themes aside until next year!

With an abundance of cured meats from our local grocery store and some cedar branches from a tree in our yard, I put together this Assorted Cured Meats Wreath quite quickly and easily. Everything you see in the wreath is available at most larger chain stores, which means all you have to do is assemble it. Christmastime is busy enough as it is! Putting out a nice spread for friends and family shouldn’t add to your holiday stress!

Most charcuterie boards will include thinly sliced meats and cheese too. And, you can certainly add those things to your wreath if you’re putting it out before dinner as an appetizer. But, in this case, I’m keeping these wreaths simple and very on theme.

WHAT IS CHARCUTERIE ANYWAY?

Charcuterie is a French term meaning “flesh” and “cooked.” It is a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, and pate, etc. Originally intended as a way to preserve meat before the advent of refrigeration, they are prepared today for the flavours derived from the preservation processes.

Today, when we hear the term charcuterie, most of us immediately know that we are referring to the preparation and artful assembling of arranging items like cured meats, hard and soft cheeses, dried and fresh fruits, vegetables, and crackers or bread on a large wooden board.

Charcuterie has been popular in many parts of Europe for many, many years. In fact, there’s documented evidence of charcuterie being present in ancient Roman times. The popularity of these boards did not catch on here in North America until recently. Now, they’re everywhere! And, I’m going to show you how to make wreath-shaped charcuterie boards specifically for Christmas!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE:

The following is a list of the items needed to prepare an Assorted Cured Meats Wreath. Please keep in mind that the number of items you will need will greatly depend on how many people you are preparing the wreath for. Also, these items are suggestions only. Feel free to switch it up with things that you love, or things that you can find in your local area.

• Fresh Thyme  – In this recipe, the thyme leaves and sprigs are not consumed. They are merely used to pull some greenery on the wreath. Otherwise, the wreath would look very pink, which is the colour of most sliced cured meats.
• Spicy Genoa Salami – One of the best-known Italian salamis, Genoa Salami is dry-cured with a mild, yet full aroma punctuated by delicious spices. It is savoury, rich, bold and spicy. I used this to make the salami roses in the center of the wreath.
• Pepperoni – I could not assemble this wreath without pepperoni! It has to be the most well-known cured meat thanks to the invention of the pepperoni pizza!
• Kielbasa – I’m using turkey kielbasa here. It’s a little leaner and much milder than the surrounding salami and pepperoni slices.
• Smoked Sausage – This German classic, is a smoked pork sausage that is semi-dry. This is personally one of my favourites!
• Hungarian Salami – This salami tastes so good! It’s a smoked salami that is cured in cold weather. It is usually found with a white plastic casing. In the photographs, as you can see, I left the casing on to create contrast on the wreath. Of course, it will be removed before consumption.

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR WREATH BASE

The first thing you want to do is to source a serving plate or bowl. The number of people you are serving and the number of items you have to place on the board will help to determine the size you will need. You can use a cutting board, a charcuterie board, a marble slab, or an old silver-plated tray. In fact, you can build the wreath right on top of your clean countertop too, especially if that is where the rest of your food items will be set up!

Next, using fresh sprigs of edible greenery, such as summer savoury or kale, create a circular pattern on the board. I used cedar branches that I cut from one of our cedar trees. They were washed very well and dried in a salad spinner. Whatever greenery you choose to use, position the sprigs so that the leafy end is pointing out from the center of the board. The wreath size will be determined by how much berries and chocolate you will be piling onto it, so size the wreath accordingly. It’s always best to make the wreath a little bigger so that the green leaves are not completely covered. Once you’re happy with positioning those, it’s time to assemble the wreath.

Start by laying down alternating meat slices. Work your way around the cedar wreath alternating between the larger and smaller slices, as well as the flavours and textures of different cured meats. Once all of the slices have been laid down, go ahead and tuck in just a few sprigs of fresh thyme for decoration. As you can see, I also added a few cherry tomatoes as a garnish.

MAKE IT AHEAD OF TIME

You can make this Assorted Cured Meats Wreath earlier on the day you are serving it, or even a day or two in advance. The meats have all been cured and they are already cooked and ready to eat, so as long as you can keep the platter covered well and refrigerated, you will be fine. If you do make it ahead of time, I would not recommend adding the thyme leaves or cherry tomatoes until just before serving. Be sure to cover the board well and keep it refrigerated until ready to serve.

Don’t store the cedar branches in your fridge. Prop them up in a jar or vase with water. They will stay fresh for about a week. In fact, you can leave them in the water out on your front porch too. This might be the best way to go, especially if you have pets that like to chew on things! (I’m looking at you, Jake and Maggie!) When ready to assemble, take everything out of the fridge and layer as described in the section above.