Labaneh (Yogurt Cheese):
"Labaneh is yogurt cheese, a wonderful invention for everything from pasta to sandwich spread. It takes a minimum of 8 hours to drain the yogurt, transforming it into cheese, and the cheese can be refrigerated for several days. More than once, it has taken 2 days for the yogurt to drain to the desired thickness, so plan accordingly. Minimal time for preparing the yogurt cheese is included in the cook time."
- Ready In:
- 8hrs 10mins
- Ingredients:
- 2
- Yields:
-
1 cup yogurt cheese
ingredients
- 2 cups nonfat plain yogurt
- 1⁄2 clove garlic (optional)
directions
- Line a strainer with 2 layers of cheesecloth; place the strainer over a bowl and pour the yogurt into the strainer; set aside at room temperature for at least 8 hours or until very, very thick.
- If using the garlic, push it through a garlic press and stir into the thickened labaneh.
- Refrigerate.
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Reviews
-
This is VERY good! I made it in two batches- in one I used the garlic and added a bit of an herb blend and in the other I added some sliced strawberries. Both were terrific. A couple of notes-at about 8-10 hours the yogurt is about the texture of sour cream and can be used as such in many recipes while getting to the firmness needed to sub for cream cheese took way longer, about 30 hours. Also, you may want to cover your strainer if letting it sit out on the counter. Thanks for the great recipe! -
Thank you yet again, sugarpea. I was happy to make my own labneh, instead of buying it with preservatives, from the stores.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
sugarpea
Snohomish, WA
I’m a former interior designer and landscape designer. At the moment I get to enjoy being at home and working only when I want to. I like rollerblading, hiking, backpacking and trips to the ocean. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and moved to the Northwest when I was thirty, over twenty years ago. I’m afraid they’ll have to bury me here in WA. This is God’s country and I’m never leaving.
I have a smallish collection of cookbooks, preferring to use the library and a copy machine. Among my favorites though, are: Recipes 1-2-3, by Rozanne Gold, a collection of recipes containing no more than 3 ingredients (excepting water, salt and pepper); A Treasury of Great Recipes, by Mary and Vincent Price, recipes collected from friends and chefs of great restaurants around the world; The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins, about a collection of cuisines I’m convinced are the healthiest in the world and The Low-Calorie Gourmet, by Pierre Franey.
Currently my passions are our dogs, the garden, cooking, the natural world and of course, Dh. I can now add Zaar to that list of passions (translate: addiction). We have three dogs, two rescued and one adopted. They are Sugarpea, a Golden Retriever, Chickpea, a Llasa Apso and Sweetpea, a Shih Tzu; small, medium and large. We’re quite a sight out on the trail. One of the things I am most fond of about living here is the ability to vegetable garden year ‘round.
