Italian Butter Board

If you’re looking for a delicious flavor combination to try on a Butter Board, the Italian combination of sundried tomatoes, basil, balsamic, and Parmesan cheese, can’t be beat!

I have fallen in love with the new trend of Butter Boards. They’re essentially a way of jazzing up bread and butter with flavor while also turning it into an interactive experience. Every time I put one of these boards out at a gathering, people gather around and can’t stop talking about it, or eating from it.

Ingredients For The Italian Butter Board

Garlic Butter: For the base of this butter board, I’ve gone with garlic butter. I’m obsessed with my garlic butter recipe, so I highly recommend that you try it. Note that usually when I come up with Butter Board recipes, I use unsalted butter and then add crunchy kosher salt to it. But typically garlic butter, whether store-bought or homemade, is salted. So I have not called for the salt here. If your garlic butter doesn’t have salt in it, sprinkle the butter spread onto the board with 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt before adding anything else. Note that that garlic butter recipe also has some parsley in it. You can skip the parsley or add it. It tastes amazing on this board either way!

Lemon Zest: I almost always include citrus zest on butter boards. It seems to counteract the richeness of the butter, making everything more balanced. In this case, it also cuts through the strong sundried tomato flavor, and also tastes amazing with the Parmesan cheese.

Fresh Basil: The fresh basil on this board is finely cut into ribbons. Use a really sharp knife for this or else the leaves will bruise. Alternatively, you can try to use only small basil leaves and then leave them whole, or tear leaves by hand, which also tends to lead to greener color and less bruising.

Sundried Tomatoes: I really wanted a tomato and basil combination for this, but I knew that diced fresh tomatoes would be too wet. Enter sundried tomatoes! Use the ones that come packed in oil so that they’re already hydrated. The dry ones won’t work here. Note also that you should chop them up more finely than in the picture. They’re pretty overpowering and it’s best to use a small amount in small pieces.

Balsamic Glaze: I don’t make my own balsamic reduction for this. Instead, I really do want that sweeter more syrupy version that is sold as a glaze next to the vinegars at the grocery store. Don’t use very much though because it has a lot of flavor. The best thing to do is to measure the glaze into a microwave-safe bowl and heat it for 10 seconds in the microwave. That will thin it down so that you can get a thinner drizzle. Use a spoon to drizzle small amounts over the butter board.

Parmesan: The shavings of Parmesan on this board are the final touch. I like to use a potato peeler to shave the cheese directly onto the board.

More Butter Board Recipes

Garlic and Herb Butter Board

Blackberry-Mint Butter Board

Holiday Pomegranate Butter Board

Whipped Feta Greek Board

For more amazing butter board flavor combinations and recipes, and tips for making the best butter boards, head over here. I can’t wait for you to try this! -Christine xo

Print