The following recipe is for making Labneh and is inspired by Labneh, Recipe and Illustrations by David Fankhauser and How To Make Arabic Labneh! طريقة عمل كرات اللبنة – by Easylife by LebanonEasyLife. Labneh is a Lebanese soft cheese made from yogurt. See my posts Yogurt: Four Quarts and Yogurt: Two Quarts for instructions on how to make your own yogurt.
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 quarts plain yogurt
- 1 to 3 teaspoons salt
- Olive oil as needed
Equipment
- Nut milk bag
- Two bowls
- Whisk
- Colander
- One or two quart jar with lid
Directions
- Add your yogurt into the first bowl and stir until smooth.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt for 1 quart and 3 teaspoons of salt for 2 quarts and mix.
- Place a colander into a second bowl and a nut milk bag into the colander.
- Pour the yogurt into the nut milk bag.
- Close the bag and hang above the bowl or leave in the colander to dry for 2 to 4 days.
- The whey will drain into the bowl and can be discarded or saved for other uses.
- On the following days, remove the labneh from the bag, add 1/4 teaspoon of salt (for one quart) or 1/2 teaspoon of salt (for two quarts), clean the bag, and replace the labneh in the bag to dry.
- After 2 to 4 days, once the whey has been completely drained, remove the labneh from the nut milk bag and place into a bowl.
- Fill a jar with an inch or two of olive oil.
- With a little olive oil in the palm of your hand, form the labneh into balls roughly 1-inch in diameter.
- Place the balls into the jar.
- Add enough olive oil to the jar to completely cover the labneh.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
- This is the first time I made this. Four days might have been excessive as the cheese became crumbly and not as smooth as I anticipated.
- The left over salted acidic whey can be used in soup stock, baking, and sprouting grains.
- After one day, this can be put into a tub and served as a cream cheese substitute. The consistency and flavor is so similar that I do not think most people would notice the difference.
- Serve on a plate surrounded with black olives, slices of cucumber, and tomatoes wedges and eat with toasted pita bread.
