Ingredients
Cheeses and Meats
- 1/2 small Brie wheel about 4 ounces, cut into triangles
- 5 ounces Unexpected Cheddar or aged white cheddar broken into chunks
- 4 ounces cranberry goat cheese
- 5 ounces cheddar with Scotch bonnet chili and red peppers broken into chunks, or pepper Jack, cut into cubes
- 4 ounces sliced Italian dry salami
- 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
- 3 ounces sliced pepperoni
Fruit
- 2 cups red seedless grapes trimmed into clusters that fit your board
- 1 Honeycrisp apple cored and thinly sliced
- 1 ripe but firm pear cored and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
Accompaniments
- 1/2 cup grilled pitted green olives drained
- 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts drained
- 1/3 cup cherry jam or your preferred jam, cranberry sauce, or honey
Crackers and Chocolates
- 1 box Pita crackers as needed
- 1 box Fig and olive crisps as needed
- 4 small pumpkin chocolate truffles
For Serving the Olives
- 1 small white edible pumpkin
- Food safe plastic wrap or a small food safe bowl that fits inside the pumpkin
Method
Prepare the pumpkin.
- Wash and dry the pumpkin. Carefully cut off the top and scoop out the seeds and stringy center. Line the cavity with food safe plastic wrap or insert a small food safe bowl. Fill with the drained olives.
Position the pumpkin and bowls.
- Place the filled pumpkin near the center of your serving board. Spoon the artichokes and jam into separate small bowls and place them in different areas of the board.
Arrange the meats and cheeses.
- Alternate adding meats and cheeses as you fill the spaces around the pumpkin and bowls. Overlap the salami in a curve. Fold the pepperoni in half, or into quarters if using large slices, then nestle the pieces together. Loosely gather the prosciutto into folds. Arrange the Brie triangles in a semicircle, position the cranberry goat cheese, and add the cheddar chunks in separate piles. Leave room for fruit and crackers.
Add the fruit.
- Slice the apple and pear close to serving and fan the slices into open spaces. Tuck in grape clusters sized to fit the remaining spaces so guests can pick off a few grapes at a time.
Arrange the crackers.
- Overlap crackers along the edges of the board and tuck small clusters into open spaces, keeping them away from wet ingredients. Serve additional crackers alongside the board.
Finish and serve.
- Sprinkle pomegranate seeds into a few gaps and over some of the Brie. Add the pumpkin chocolates and serve with cheese knives, small spoons, and appetizer plates.