Sunday, May 8, 2011

Lebna - Yogurt Cheese




LOVE Lebna! I used to take lebna sandwiches to school as a child, trumps cream cheese any day. It's smooth, creamy, tangy, and a little salty. Mmmmm. You'll see it on most breakfast tables in the middle east drizzled with a little bit of oil and scooped up with pieces of fresh flat bread.

If I remember correctly Queen Rania of Jordan herself on the View said she used to take lebna sandwiches to school.

Here is how to make it:

For the container above I used 3 yogurt containers (650 g) They were on sale!

Add all the yogurt into a big bowl and add some salt (1 tsp per container should be ok)
Whisk it all up and pour into a sieve that is lined with a paper towel or cheese cloth.
In recent years I've found paper towel to be very durable (scotties?) They don't tear or leave any fragments in the cheese and they're sanitary because I can just throw it away.

I line the sieve really well then pour it all in. (make sure the sieve can stand properly, or has little feet) then place the sieve over another bowl (lots of water will come out)

I remember my mother hanging a tied up cheese cloth around the sink faucet and leaving it there overnight but now I put the bowl in the fridge and in 2 days it's done.

Keep removing excess liquid so it does not reabsorb if it collects, and then turn out the paper towel to reveal you're beautiful cheese. Store in a container and enjoy with a little drizzle of good olive oil. Perfect for your breakfast table, brunch or mezze spread.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You didn't list ingredients

Anonymous said...

Or is it just yogurt and salt?

Amatullah said...

yes yogurt and salt

Anonymous said...

I also put some mint in at times. Thanks for your recipe and photos!