Recipe: Super Easy, Three-Ingredient, Two-Step Appetizer

I am attending a get together with some fabulous ladyfriends this evening and I wanted to make something that will pair well with the $4 bottles of Syrah I am also bringing to share.  Yep, I like to keep it classy.  So you probably aren't going to wow anyone with the looks of this appetizer but it works as something you can throw together for a tasty appetizer in just a few minutes. 


Cream Cheese & Salsa Spread

Ingredients: 

• 2 blocks cream cheese
• 16-ounce container of salsa
• Crackers for serving

A shameless Trader Joe's advertisement.

Directions:

1. Spread cream cheese out in a shallow dish.  You might want to leave the cream cheese out on the counter to soften beforehand. 
2. Pour the salsa over the cream cheese.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  

Notes: 
For this batch, I layered the ingredients in a rectangle glass dish with a lid for ease of transport.  A pie plate also works well. 

I first learned this recipe from my mother and she uses jalapeno jelly in place of the salsa.  Jalapeno jelly is available in both mild and hot and generally found in the jam/jelly section of the grocery store.

Another adaptation, that also cuts the recipe in half, is to put one block of cream cheese on a serving plate, pour over half a jar of salsa or jalapeno jelly and surround with crackers.