Whipped feta with hazelnuts

Creamy, salty, crunchy with hazelnuts and fragrant with fresh mint, whipped feta and hazelnut dip is my all-time favourite.

Whipped feta is a dip so classically should be scooped on crackers, crudités, breadsticks or whatever else anyone fancies to dip in the dip. But I love this one so much I just eat it out of the bowl with a soup spoon.

There are different versions of whipped feta depending whether and what other dairy you add to it. There are purists who think whipped feta should be whipped feta and nothing else, bar flavourings and/or herbs. I generally agree with that view but a tablespoon of yoghurt loosens up the mix a little and the tablespoon of double cream makes it whip fluffier.

Dips on the whole are a bit pointless: on what occasion, apart from a party buffet, would you have them? No good for dinner, lunch just about but seem a bit too fussy and not suited to the breakfast scene. That’s why my approach works: I make a bowlful of whipped feta and eat it and the time of day or meal is incidental.

And if you think shovelling it up with a spoon on its own is a bit obscene, do the next best thing: pile the dip onto cherry tomato halves. It is the marriage made in heaven.