Creamy feta spread

I love feta, but it’s not the most easy thing to spread on anything. However, feta would taste amazing in most sandwiches or on most crackers, if only it wouldn’t crumble everywhere. Enter this spread. Flavour wise this is definitely more feta oriented, but if you want to dial the saltiness down just use half the amount of feta specified in the recipe below. It reminded me of a soft chevre, except I didn’t feel the sting to my wallet! I used sundried tomato and garlic feta from Buton d’or. Love that their feta is delicious but quite affordable, and available at just about any supermarket in New Zealand. They also have a reduced salt version of their feta for those of you who are watching your sodium intake or something.

Mine got smeared on some super fresh home made bread and topped with my rapidly declining supply of fresh basil. A wonderful snack to enjoy in the last rays of sunshine on a warm autumn afternoon. However it does have quite a few other potential uses…For the savoury eclairs I made for The Potluck Club, I used this as a filling and it was brilliant – a breeze to spread, even straight from the fridge. You could also whip it into a quiche – I can just imagine it would be sublime with spinach quiche!

makes about a cup and a half

• 250g spreadable cream cheese, softened*
• 75g creamy feta, cubed (you can use the flavoured stuff if you like)
• splash of cream
• optional: juice of half a lemon

* I placed the cream cheese in the bowl I was using for beating, and then placed that bowl in another half filled with hot water. If you keep smushing it with a fork it really starts to get quivery and submissive.

Using cake beaters or their equivalent, beat cream cheese until slightly lighter, then beat in cream and half the feta. Taste, and add more cream if you want it less salty, or more feta if you want it more zingy. Squeeze in a little lemon juice in between beating if using, tasting at each addition until it’s to your liking.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Will last until the soonest best before date on the ingredients you used (or about 1 week with the lemon juice).

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I’d also like to introduce a new feature to my blog posts:

Currently Clickalicious

Basically, at the end of each post, I’ll share a few recently bookmarked posts from other bloggers who I follow. My food blog addiction has grown like a successful souffle, with my “food” section on google reader currently keeping me up to date with well over 100 blogs. As if that wasn’t enough I am a serious Tastespotting and Foodgawker browser. Currently Clickalicious is where I share my picks of the moment. Enjoy, and be prepared for some serious eye candy.

Roasted maple cinnamon almond butter @ The edible perspective

GF lemon almond polenta cake @ Sally Cameron

Cocoa Nib Florentines @ Bravetart

Peanut butter and jelly poptarts (with peanut butter pastry!) @ Anger burger

Roasted tomato sauce @ Lovely wee days

Baked polenta fries with lemon zest and herbs @ The photo kitchen blog

Purple potato ravioli with wonton wrappers @ One girl in the kitchen

Oven Naan at home @ Food for my family