How to Make Your Labne (and How to Eat It)
I first tasted labne at a Lebanese restaurant in Tampa, Florida and was immediately thrilled. It had a yogurt flavor and a richness of cream cheese, and it made me lay down pita bread in a way hummus could never. Then I spent many years buying it from fancy grocery stores before realizing that I could make it myself.
In fact, “cook” sounds like a strong word, as it takes a little more than just stirring and waiting to turn plain yogurt into this creamy, pleasantly tangy and spreadable cheese. Just take some Greek yogurt, salt, stir, strain, let it dry and drain in the refrigerator. This is just a recipe and all you need is the following:
- Greasy Greek yogurt bath (I’ve heard you can use low fat and low fat yogurt, but I wouldn’t do that for myself or you).
- Salt (Some measure, but I’m just aiming for a “healthy pinch.” For 16 ounces of yogurt, I used the amount of kosher salt shown below.)
Line a sieve with several layers of cheesecloth, add salt to the yogurt and pour it through the sieve.
Wrap excess cheesecloth over the yogurt, place in the refrigerator and let sit for 24 hours.
After the sun has gone down and up, and after a full day, put the now slightly hard but still spreadable cheese into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and drizzle with zaatar . Scoop it into your mouth with pita bread.
You can only eat labne this way for the rest of your life and be very happy, but it is an amazingly versatile prayer that can be used in many interesting and delicious ways. Here are just a few things you can (and should) do with this material:
- Add a spoonful to tomato soup as if you were making sour cream or crème fraîche.
- Use it as a base for a superbombed onion sauce .
- Sprinkle with fresh fruit on top and drizzle with balsamic juice.
- Use it literally the same way you use sour cream.
- Chop vegetables and Kalamata olives and stir to make a very Mediterranean sandwich.
- Use it like mayonnaise in chicken salad.
- Spread it over your morning bagel.
Basically, if you think your food would be better served with a creamy, spicy, dreamy pasta, go for labne.