[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

Feta cheese is many things—salty, tangy, crumbly—all qualities that would make it an excellent candidate for a dip or spread. But on its own, feta cheese isn't the least bit spreadable. Luckily, it's easy to change that, and all you need is a blender and a few basic ingredients.

The most important ingredient, aside from the feta itself, is what you'll use as the smooth and creamy base. Many recipes for feta dip turn to thick and mild cream cheese or some combo of mayonnaise and sour cream for that textural component. But I've decided to use Greek yogurt instead—not only did I have plenty of the stuff on hand after making several batches of yogurt from scratch, it's also thick and smooth, tangy enough to complement the cheese, and creamy enough to temper the feta's assertive edge.

Making this dip is as simple as combining the feta with the yogurt in a blender or food processor and blitzing it until it's smooth. (Note: A stand mixer is not able to break down the feta well enough and shouldn't be used for this purpose.)

Feta is crumbly, so even after lots of blending and processing, it's likely your spread will have a slightly grainy texture. You can leave it like that, or you can pass it through a fine-mesh strainer to work out most of those tiny feta bits and improve the texture.

To enrich the spread and layer a little more Mediterranean flavor into it, I also work in a small amount of olive oil and some minced garlic, then season it with salt as needed (though feta is salty, so taste the spread before you add salt).

Optional ingredients like herbs (mint, oregano, dill); spices (black pepper is a sure bet); and more can all be added and blended in, too. Keep in mind, though, that if you work in wet ingredients, like roasted red pepper flesh, harissa, or oven-dried tomatoes, you'll need to reduce the yogurt by quite a bit to account for the thinning effect they'll have.

You should also feel free to adjust the ratio of feta to yogurt. For one thing, different brands of feta and yogurt will have different consistencies right off the shelf, but beyond that, you may also find yourself preferring a thicker or thinner spread depending on how you plan to serve it.

How you use the spread, and, in fact, whether you think of it as a dip or a spread in the first place, is equally your choice. Once it's blended to a spreadable consistency, the options are endless.

In this post, we're showing it used as a dip garnished with olive oil and crushed roasted pistachios, and also slathered on toast and topped with thinly sliced cucumbers, olive oil, and fresh thyme. I'd absolutely use it as a condiment on a sandwich with slices of roasted lamb, or smear it on a plate and arrange fresh summer tomato slices on top. You could even dollop it into cold or hot soups—it's incredibly versatile, just like feta itself.

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