Discover a really fast and easy way to make Labneh. Greek yoghurt gets transformed into a Middle Eastern cheese like condiment which you can use in various ways. You can use this handy ‘cheesy condiment’ in sandwiches, or as a snack with crackers, or in salads, or just eat it on its own. If stored in oil, it will last a long time in your fridge.
This week I have been very busy with various different courses so I haven’t had a lot of time to cook.
Just around the corner from me is an inner city organic farm, and I am currently attending a course on organic gardening there. It’s a lot of fun and very informative. We are currently sowing some of our produce to eat later on in summer, also making an organic compost heap, and generally just learning more about sustainable gardening. It’s fantastic!
As well as this I have had some photography lessons. I just find that no matter how much I practice and no matter how much I read on the subject of photography, it’s never enough!
So, because of all this learning, the food has been on the back burner a little. But that isn’t to say I haven’t found time to whip up a few bits and pieces, which of course I am going to share.
So, this week I am going to call ‘pickling week’. I’m calling it ‘pickling week’ because I have been making various things that are fairly no fuss and that can be kept in jars in the fridge. For example, I’ve made: baked rhubarb, vegan salmon lox (yep you read that right) and this labneh.
Labneh is such a fantastic thing to have lying around your fridge. You can, of course, just buy the stuff in a supermarket or a deli, but really why would you bother when it is so easy to make yourself?
I use labneh in a lot of dishes. It’s fantastic as an alternative to cheese in salads, or in sandwiches, or you can even roll it in herbs and serve it with crackers.
You get my drift! It’s a great, handy snack type condiment to have in your fridge as it can be used in so many different ways.
It’s pretty fashionable in New Zealand cafes at the moment. A lot of them are serving up labneh with breakfasts, in particular labneh on toast with a fruity conserve. So basically, I decided to follow the trend and make it myself and have it on toast with my baked rhubarb. End result, deeeeeeelich!
It’s not tricky to make labneh and when you do you can either munch it all straight away or you can roll it into balls and add it to oil and keep it stored in your fridge. It will last a long time as long as you keep it covered in oil.
I hope you love this middle eastern ‘cheesy’ treat. To me it’s a little bit of really easy to make luxury.
x
Lisa
- 400 g plain yoghurt
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 piece of cheese cloth
- Rinse your cheese cloth in cold water and then squeeze all of the water out of it.
- Line a sieve with the cheese cloth and place the sieve and cheese cloth combination over a bowl.
- Stir the salt into the yoghurt and then pour it into the cheesecloth.
- Bring the sides of the cheesecloth up over the yoghurt mixture so that it is completely covered.
- Put 2 tins on top of the yoghurt to add some weight and leave it and the bowl in the fridge overnight.
- In the morning you should find that the watery whey has collected into the bowl and the yoghurt curds should have collected into a thick mass in the cheesecloth.
- Use straight away, or:
- Wet your hands and then roll the thick yoghurt curds into balls in the palm of your hand. I use an ice cream scoop to make sure that the labneh balls are all roughly the same size
- Put the labneh balls into a clip jar and cover with olive oil.
- Place in the fridge and use when needed.
- The labneh balls should last a long time in the fridge as long as they are covered in oil.
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