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When I visited the Bedouins in the Negev desert of Israel I was fascinated with how they made homemade yogurt without any fancy tools. Ever since then I've been making homemade yogurt for my family. Once the yogurt is complete we eat it as is or I make Labane cheese with it. If I had to come up with a comparison, Labane cheese is basically Middle Eastern cream cheese but so much better and lower in fat! Labane is typically spread on a plate with olive oil and Za'atar, which is a mixture of dried herbs, toasted sesame seeds, ground sumac and salt, on top. You can serve it with bread (we love pita), crackers or even as a veggie dip.
The process is simple, once you have the yogurt made (of course we recommend our recipe), pour it into a pillowcase, tie it with twine and hang overnight with a container underneath to catch the draining liquid. And that's it! Our family loves to eat Labane as a snack, perfect for after school, or as an appetizer when you have guests over. Now that you know how easy it is to make homemade Labane cheese we hope that you will add this recipe to your lineup too!
Gather:
A pillowcase, large bowl and butcher twine or string
This recipe of our homemade Labane cheese was featured in the Winter 2017 issue of Naturally, Danny Seo!
Ingredients
- homemade yogurt
- olive oil
- salt
Instructions
- Pour the yogurt into a pillowcase, tie it with the twine and hang overnight with a container underneath to catch the draining liquid. Let it drain at room temperature for about 10 hours.
- After 10 hours the yogurt will become a drained cheese. Take it out of the pillowcase, store it in a container and refrigerate.
- To serve: plate it, spread it and drizzle on olive oil and salt or Za'atar.
