Calabrian chili cream cheese

# What You Need:

01 - 8 oz cream cheese, softened

02 - 2 tablespoons Calabrian chili paste or finely chopped jarred Calabrian chilies

03 - 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

04 - 1 garlic clove, finely minced (optional)

05 - 1 teaspoon lemon juice

06 - 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

07 - 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

01 - Place softened cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl.

02 - Add Calabrian chili paste, olive oil, minced garlic if using, lemon juice, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper to the cream cheese.

03 - Use a spatula or hand mixer to blend all ingredients until fully combined and achieve a creamy consistency throughout.

04 - Taste the mixture and adjust salt, lemon juice, or chili paste to achieve desired flavor balance.

05 - Move the prepared cream cheese mixture to a serving dish and drizzle with additional extra-virgin olive oil on top if desired.

06 - Serve immediately with toasted bread or bagels, or refrigerate for up to 5 days before serving.

01 -

It tastes like you spent hours perfecting it, but you're done in ten minutes flat.
The heat creeps up on you in the best way, never aggressive, always balanced with that buttery cream cheese richness.

02 -

Cold cream cheese will separate and look grainy no matter how hard you stir, so that soft texture at the start really does matter.
Calabrian chili paste is already salty, so taste before you add the full amount of salt or you'll end up with something too aggressive.

03 -

If you can't find Calabrian chili paste specifically, look for 'nduja or any high-quality Italian chili paste—they'll all bring that fruity, smoky character that makes this spread sing.
A hand mixer turns this into something almost whipped and cloud-like if that's the texture you're after, but a spatula does the job beautifully with a little elbow grease and no cleanup.