This Marinated Cheese and Olive Holiday Wreath Appetizer is the perfect addition to your festive spread. It's simple to put together, too. It's the perfect addition to your usual holiday recipes.

In our family, a holiday gathering without olives is borderline criminal. From as long as I can remember, my mom has always served a relish tray, bowls of olives, or {my favorite}...what she calls a "cheese and olive wreath". I honestly thought she made this dish up. Imagine my surprise when I saw similar dishes out there on Pinterest. It's really a thing. And y'all...it's a good thing. Below is my own take on the Marinated Cheese and Olive Holiday Wreath Appetizer. I found a similar wreath to my mom's in an older Taste of Home Magazine I had {I collect those things and read them like novels, y'all}. This one I'm posting today is a combination of the Taste of Home one and my mom's wreath that she's made for a few years.

Marinated Cheese and Olive Holiday Wreath Appetizer

I love this wreath because there isn't any actual cooking involved. It's a chop and layer situation...my kind of prep work. And the longer it sits, the yummier it all gets. The flavors are all very strong in this dish...from the olives to the garlic to the herbs. But, then the cheese is perfect to mellow it all out and give it a creamy touch as well.

Recipe for Marinated Cheese and Olive Holiday Wreath Appetizer

click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese {do not soften}
8 ounces part-skim Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup {divided} Mezzetta Spanish Queen Olives, Pimento Stuffed, rough chopped
1/2 cup Mezzetta Pitted Greek Kalamata Olives {not chopped}
1/2 cup Mezzetta Bleu Cheese Stuffed Olives, rough chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped {your preference on amount}

Directions:

Slice cheese blocks into even pieces and arrange in a wreath shape on a serving plate, overlapping the cheese slices as you go around the plate, and alternating cheese types.

Lay your olives in the middle of the wreath. I sprinkle a few all around, too.
Reserve the additional 1/4 cup of the Mezzetta Spanish Queen Olives, Pimento Stuffed to use on top of the dish.

Mix together oil, vinegar, basil, parsley, and garlic.
Pour over cheeses and olives.
Sprinkle additional 1/4 cup of olives on top.
Cover and refrigerate 4-8 hours to allow flavors to marry.
click here for printable recipe
I like to serve mine with slices of French bread or sturdy crackers. I place a few spreaders out with the cheese wreath, too.