A refreshing, luxurious and versatile cheese, Labneh can be hard to find but it is easy to make your own from a simple pot of yogurt.
It’s a luscious addition to Stewed or Baked Rhubarb, Baked Figs, Stewed Plums or as a topping for cakes such as Strawberry and Cream-Cheese Cakes. Or, for savoury foods, use it with Roast Beetroots or Griddled Courgettes. Click on the highlighted links for related pieces in these pages.
To make the about 350g of Labneh: –
You will need a large pot (400ml or so) of good quality organic goat’s, sheep’s or cow’s yogurt.
You will also need a large piece of clean muslin or a plastic sieve with a fine mesh.
Spoon the yogurt into the sieve or muslin and suspend it over a bowl. If using the muslin, you will need some ingenuity to work out how best to do this. Place it in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours for the whey to drip from the yogurt into the bowl. The longer you leave it the thicker the yogurt becomes. Turn the Labneh into a clean container, cover it and keep in the fridge until needed.
There are lots of uses for the resultant whey left in the bowl, such as in stocks and baking, so consider that before discarding it.
Sherbhert champions delicious, healthy and sustainable food where its production minimises environmental damage, exploitation, animal suffering and subsequent processing. Sherbhert’s recipes are simple and use mainly UK seasonal produce sourced as locally as possible.
Sherbhert occasionally recommends suppliers entirely on the basis of their good produce and ethos.
